When my daughter’s boyfriend suggested Aspen Alley in Breckenridge for leaf-peeping, I said, “What?” How did we not know about this spectacular hike? Dan, (not to be confused with my husband, Danny) found the gem on an app for mountain bike trail. Amazing!
Despite back-to-school and football games, people flocked to the mountains enjoy the fall color. Some flew. I met women on the trail from Pennsylvania and Chicago who hit autumn at its peak, perfectly.
Notice how white Roxy is? She soon goes incognito.
It was a bluebird day with brilliant color above 8000 feet. The aspens in Breckenridge were still green.
My obligatory tree top photo.
Loved these sibling aspens bent as if in conversation across the trail.
The color change could be seen in our dog too. Danny and Courtney walk them on the trail.
Can you find Roxy?
Lots of fall photos to come. Watch for some almost wordless posts with autumn feels and linkage to my favorite hikes. I LOVE this time of year!
Do you go leaf peeping? Do you enjoy fall? What’s your favorite season?
Other leaf peeping hikes:
Surrounded by Eye Candy – A Photo Essay
Susie Lindau's Wild Ride 
Beautiful Susie. We have no leaves to peep, sadly. The palms are very constant in their greenness.
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And you have the ocean!
It’s been in the 90’s for a while now so escaping to the mountains is welcome relief.
Thanks, John!
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I’ll bet. Love those Rockies.
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Me too!
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🙂
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Fall is my favourite season but our leaves have not changed yet.. beautiful
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Mine too, Linda. The leaves are green in Boulder but I might take a quick trip to Estes Park which is higher in elevation. Thank you!
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Wow, spectacular! Thanks for sharing these amazing photos of nature at its finest!
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Thanks, John!
Some years it’s “meh.” This year the colors are more vibrant than ever. Lots of peeping ahead as the color changes in lower elevations. 😀
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What a stunning spectacular of colour and the beauty that are trees 🙂 WOW!
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Yes! The lighting made the leaves glow. Amazing!
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I went to Aspen when I was a child on a US holiday tour & even as a child I never forgot the colours of those beautiful trees. Stunning 😍
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Most people would yawn at the yellow color, but a forest of them in the sunshine just glows!! And of course the mountains and sky are a great contrast. I love Aspen!
Thanks, Sam!
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Beautiful! We will be escaping the Maryland heat and peeping some leaves in Cooperstown, New York, early next month. Anywhere there’s maples the reds are always amazing, so I’m looking forward to it (and the cooler temps!)
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I bet the color will be amazing! I grew up in Wisconsin and know what you mean. Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca!
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Breath taking indeed! I miss the fall colors where I used to live in California. We’d drive to Tahoe just to see the ever changing colors.
Thanks for sharing. I’m looking forward to many more glorious photos.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
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Thanks so much, Patricia!
It’s great incentive to get outside. It’s been super hot down here in Boulder but it should drop 25 degrees by Thursday. Whew!
I bet Tahoe is gorgeous this time of year.
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Wow, what a gorgeous view for you. It looks like you had a wonderful time.
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The blue of the sky contrasted beautifully! It’s always wonderful to share a hike with family.
Thanks, Lydia!
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I am truly missing Colorado right now. Thank you for a fall leaf fix! Love that Colorado gold 😊
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It’s exceptional this year. I heard the drought is causing the leaf change to start early. I hope to take more pictures as they change in lower altitudes. You would love it! Nice to see you, Ingrid!
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Have you ever been Yodeled?
Lovely and Beautiful Golden leaves of aspens set agents vivid blue Colorado skies… What a lovely day indeed, it so beats lackadaisically meander n’ the vast city malls’ parking lots, pressing your car alarm button redundantly until yet another sunset in hopes of finding your Mini Cooper that looks like the hundreds and hundreds of other Mini Coopers, until you come to your’ senses in realizing you’ve wandered into the Mini Cooper surplus car stockyard.
I do have to emit if ever I’ve had enough of ‘it’ and decide to relocate that I’ll come dig out my new abode into the side of Pike’s Peak to find my fortune in Molly Be Darn and Granite, I’ll give you a fine echoing yodel Susie.
Hi Roxy 🙂
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Hahaha! Hey Brock. I just read your comment to Danny who thoroughly enjoyed it. So did I! I have a white SUV popular in the west because of the intensity of the sun so I can relate. The worst is when I look all over for it, begin to panic thinking it has been stolen, and then remember I borrowed my husbands car.
I’ll be waiting for that yodel if “it” gets to be too much.
Roxy says, “Hi Brock!”
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Gorgeous colours! What a beautiful place for a hike!
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And we’ve only driven by the trailhead, a thousand times. Ha! Thanks, Anneli! Are the leaves changing where you live?
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Isn’t that too funny, driving by and not realizing what a treasure lay right under your nose. We are seeing just the very first beginnings of the leaves turning yellow. It’ll be a couple more weeks before it becomes more dramatic.
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Same in Boulder.
Yes! Now that these new apps exist, I’m finding all kinds of them. 🙂
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Fall is my favorite season.
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Mine too! After the hike, I made my first apple pie of the season! Then we drove down the mountain and worked in the parking lot of a building we own in Denver before the Bronco game. I sizzled in the heat like a fried egg! Hopefully we’ll get some fall weather this week. I’m so done with the 90’s!
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It’s beautiful. Is that the only color of the leaves? No rust shade?
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Colorado is a semi-arid state so cottonwoods are prevelant along streams where there isn’t any development. Everyone with property has a sprinkler system so we see crimson to golds and all the shades between in towns and cities. Trees in the mountains are primarily evergreen. Aspen are the only diciduous. They’re the biggest living creature on Earth since trees shoot up from an original aspen. This year, I saw some with orange and red hues, which is very unusual. It has to do with our severe drought. Thanks, Arv!
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Thanks for the information, Susie 😃
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Hi Susie. In all the many times over the years we have visited our good friends in Denver, it wasn’t until just a few years ago that we came at the right time to see the aspens turning. We drove from Denver to Durango to take the train up to Silverton. The scenery along the way was breathtaking! I took enough pictures to fill a flash drive, especially along the train route.
As a mountain guy myself, raised in the Adirondacks of New York state, I’ve always been partial to mountain living. We also lived in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia (Charlottesville) for a while. When it came time to retire, my wife, Patty, who is a navy brat and always lived along the sea, had to decide. She wanted to be by the ocean and I wanted to stay in the mountains. So we compromised and retired by the ocean! He, he.
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If I wanted to live near the ocean, Danny would buy a condo and fly out when ski season was over. I’d probably would see him once a month! It’s why we live in Colorado. I do love the mountains. And there’s nothing like a hike to make my spirit soar. Speaking of another kind of sore, how are you feeling?
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LOL! You are a dutiful wife to Danny! I know you are an excellent skier too so no great sacrifice,eh?
I’m doing very well, Susie, thanks. The only thing I can’t do yet is walk up stairs normally. I can walk down fine. Still have to take them one at a time going up just like a toddler. Should only be a couple weeks left of that. I can walk about a mile and one half and building on that every day. My goal is to be able to walk up the two mile long Monticello trail when we visit our daughter and granddaughters in this fall. It’s a slight grade.
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That’s fantastic news, Al! It takes time to heal but it sounds like you have great incentive!
I do love skiing, but Danny would ski every day if he could. He already has three boys trips lined up for ’19!
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“bluebird day” – perfect name for that one! Love the picture peeking up through the golden leaves to the sky.
Hang on to that trail location!
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Thanks, Phil! It was one of those moments of perfect timing. I’m so glad we went!
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A gorgeous display, Susie! Fall is here, too, and everyone is out enjoying the warm foliage colors as the temperature drops. Had a wonderful hike yesterday with the wild blueberry and vine maples turning red and orange. Of course, snow has started in the higher elevations so it may be a short season!
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Wow! It just cooled down here in Boulder, but unlike the mountains, we’re a few weeks out. It’s my favorite time of year! (I say that every time the season changes. Lol!)
Thanks so much!
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Absolutely gorgeous colors! Stunning!
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Thanks so much, Debra! It was the perfect day for it!
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‘Leaf peeping.’ … never heard it called that before … what a great descriptor. 😀
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I’ve been seeing “leaf peeping” online and liked it too! Thanks for stopping by Widderwoman!
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Oooooooh. I’m liking the colorful hike and all that foilage! We don’t get much color changing over here. It’s either green or crunchy brown. No nice warm colors. Really you’re posting your hiking adventures, looks like Roxy definitely enjoyed the outing, probably slept in the rest of the day 🙂
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Hey Guat!
Yes, it was a perfect day, in fact, I commented on it all the way down the trail to everyone who passed me as if I were a Chamber of Commerce rep. Ha!
You’re right. After a bath in the sink, Roxy was out cold. zzzzzzzz
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Oh my goodness. What gorgeous Fall Fotos!!! I have fond memories of Breckenridge; it is where I learned to ski oh so many moons ago. I should go back!
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You should! If you come to Colorado, let me know and we’ll meet up!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
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You are such a nice person! And I bet you’d be super fun to hang out with 😘
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And Likewise! Keep me posted!
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Wow! This is so beautiful! Seeing this article makes me get in the mood for Fall! Love it!
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Thanks so much! The first day of fall is tomorrow. I love this time of year.
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I peeped at your beatiful shots and once I became a tree peeper in Vermont. Great post Susie.
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Vermont’s on my list, Ellen! Thanks so much.
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