The aspen leaves have now mostly fallen to the ground with only a few patches of color left. It has been a good year for leaf peeping and I was able to capture several images that I like. But I have also captured some good photos over the years and this post highlights some of those.
Inner Basin Trail, October 2014.
My favorite is this photo taken while mountain biking in the Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks. Shot with fill flash and an ultra-wide angle lens.
Inner Basin, 2005.
One of my earliest photos, also in the Inner Basin, was shot on Fuji Provia film in 2005. The remaining photos are from 2008 through 2022 and are, of course, digital shots.
Waterline Road, 2008.Arizona Trail at Bismarck Lake, 2010.Aspen Corner, Snowbowl Road, 2011.Weatherford Canyon, 2012.NWS, Bellemont, 2012.Inner Basin, 2013.Mountain biking, Inner Basin Trail, 2013.Arizona Trail, 2013.Forest Road 418, 2013.Waterline Road, 2014.Inner Basin Trail, 2015.Lockett Meadows and Inner Basin, 2015.Waterline Road, 2018.Weatherford Canyon, 2018.Mormon Mountain, 2018.San Francisco Peaks, 2019.Hochderffer Hills, 2021.Dry Lake Hills, 2022.Arizona Trail, 2022.Alfa Fia Tank, 2022.Arizona Trail, 2022.
The changing color of aspen leaves has peaked in many locations — and just now peaking in others. It’s always interesting to see which areas go early and which hang on until later.
Here are some photos of aspen around northern Arizona this past week.
Going, going… (Hockderffer Hills near FR151.)Arizona Trail near Hart Prairie.Arizona Trail.Aspen trees with shadows.Aspen trees at Aspen Corner on Snowbowl Road. (Notice how many trees have been scarred from folks carving their initials in the bark.)Forest Road 151.A tunnel through the trees on FR 151.
It was a dry summer (driest on record in Flagstaff) and autumn hasn’t been too wet, either. And, yet, the autumn colors have been good. Very good, even, with leaves staying on the trees well into mid- and late October.
In early October, the aspen were changing colors on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks.
North side of the San Francisco Peaks from FR 418. 10/08/2019.Aspen on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks. 10/08/2019.
A week later, the leaves had already peaked along Waterline Road and were falling from the trees and covering the road.
The colors have peaked and the leaves have fallen across the higher elevations of northern Arizona. Here are some of my favorites from this season.
Aspen leaves on Weatherford Trail.Waterline Road.Inner Basin Trail after an early-season snowfall.This is the classic shot along Waterline Road.Waterline Road.Near Arizona Snowbowl.Snowbowl Road after an early-season snowfall.Weatherford Trail.Frozen water droplets on a leaf.Colorful hillside along the Elden Springs Trail.Reflection in Frances Short Pond.Inner Basin and the Kachina Peaks Wilderness.
Some years it’s easy to get great photographs of the changing colors of aspen leaves in northern Arizona. The weather is good, the timing is right, you’re in the perfect place. It all comes together.
That wasn’t this year.
We set out several times on the mountain bikes to see and enjoy the color. First we were too early; then we were too late. We were out of town on a long-planned trip and the peak color season occurred while we were gone. It happens.
Not that I’m complaining. I’ve been able to get good photographs many times in the past and there will be opportunities again in coming years.
So here is a collection of pre-season photos, post-season photos, and a few from several years ago comparing colors in the Inner Basin on similar dates but different years.
Early season colors seen along Waterline Road (09/25/2017)Early season colors seen along Waterline Road (09/25/2017)Early season colors along the Arizona Trail near Bismarck Lake (09/29/2017)Late-season aspen along Waterline Road (10/17/2017)Late-season aspen along Waterline Road (10/17/2017)Mountain biking on Inner Basin Trail (10/17/2017)Mountain biking on Inner Basin Trail (10/17/2017)Mountain biking on Inner Basin Trail in 2014 (10/14/2014).
Based on previous years, I thought we might still find some great color in the Inner Basin this late in the season. We certainly did in 2014—but not 2017.
And here are a couple from 2015—another good year for aspen photography.
Inner Basin Trail (10/07/2015).Lockett Meadow and Inner Basin (10/08/2015).
An early snowfall on the higher summits juxtaposed with the aspen almost at their peak made an interesting composition. Getting this view required more hiking and climbing that anticipated—but ultimately worth it.
