For Colorado’s autumn glory, we can always count on Gazette photographers
“Ooooh, look at that,” Gazette photo editor Christian Murdock remarked as the road crested to reveal an image in the distance: fresh snow coating the Collegiate Peaks.
Snow, he knew, would be a great complement to Colorado’s classic, autumn color. So it was on Cottonwood Pass.
Murdock eagerly drove on, head turning at every bend, watching to see how flakes settled on leaves, watching for angles and light.
This is a favorite time of year for us Coloradans. The time aspens paint our natural canvas gold, making us fall deeper in love with the place we call home.
It’s a brief time, one we always long to capture. That’s where we can count on Murdock and his team.
Every year they fan out across the state in search of that perfect picture. Every year comes with a theme. This year: water.
“It’s just kind of fun creatively,” Murdock said. “It gives you kind of a challenge, and it gives you a different perspective on the annual event.”
A challenge accepted by colleagues Jerilee Bennett and Tim Hurst. Their achievement is to our benefit as admirers.
You can view more at the gallery at gazettedev.gazette.com. Check back there as the season fades — coming to a close again, but not soon forgotten.
Snow dusts the mountains on the west side of Kebler Pass as the aspens turn last week.
Storm clouds build over a snow-capped Mount Meeker as Saint Catherine’s Chapel on the Rock is illuminated by the early morning sun in Allenspark.
ABOVE: The turning aspens paint Alpine Lake near St. Elmo, yellow as a pair of mallard ducks search for food Saturday, Sept. 30.
Vehicles drive south along the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway, or Colorado 65, through the turning aspens Wednesday, Oct. 4, in the Grand Mesa National Forest.
The marina at Lake Dillon with changing aspens late last month.
Aspens turn to gold outside Gothic, Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Amid an array of fall colors, a bull elk follows his harem through the parking lot at Lake Estes on Monday, Oct. 2,in Estes Park.
Beads of water settle on an aspen leaf near Glacier Creek on Monday, Oct. 2,in Rocky Mountain National Park.
BOTTOM LEFT: Snow covers the turning aspens on the west side of Cottonwood Pass Tuesday, Oct. 3, near Buena Vista.
Jen Coet walks through a patch of sunlight in an aspen grove on the Bear Lake Glacier Gorge junction trail on Monday, Oct. 2, in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A fern and aspen leaf on the forest floor on Buffalo Pass on Monday, Sept. 25.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Photographers capture the turning aspens on Kebler Pass near Crested Butte, Tuesday, Oct. 3.
As the first bits of snow cover Maroon Peak, aspen groves in the foreground start showing their fall colors at Maroon Bells northwest of Aspen last month.
The East River flows though the fall foliage near Gothic, Tuesday, Oct. 3.
LEFT: A mud puddle reflects the turning aspens on Kebler Pass west of Crested Butte, Tuesday, Oct. 3.
LEFT: The morning sun illuminates the last of the turning aspen leaves in the Grand Mesa National Forest near Grand Junction Wednesday, Oct. 4.
BELOW: The sun spotlights the turning aspens on the west side of Kebler Pass near Crested Butte, Tuesday, Oct. 3.