Peak fall color has arrived at the higher elevations around Pikes Peak! This is at the trailhead to Rampart Reservoir, taken just yesterday. We have had a pretty mild fall, and as a result the colors are actually running a little behind normal. It looks like maybe we'll be seeing them into early October, unless a big windy storm knocks them down early (which often happens!). The shot below is highway 67 a few miles north of Cripple Creek. This is a pretty popular route for leaf watchers, I was surprised how many people were pulled over taking pictures and otherwise enjoying a beautiful (but cool) Tuesday afternoon. It started pretty overcast in the morning in the Springs, and I had kind of thought it would not be very busy.

For those of you who don't live here, Cripple Creek is about and hour from the Springs, and is more famous as one of the 3 legal gambling towns in Colorado than as any kind of mountain resort. It was an idea to help revitalize some dying towns, and it has worked to a certain extent, though the character of the town has changed dramatically as a result.
In town, it still looks like summer, but these last several nights have been a lot cooler, so maybe ours will start soon as well. The downtown in particular is quite pretty in the fall as the large deciduous trees start to turn. In the mountains, it is pretty much just the aspens, although you can see they get a beautiful gold color.