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.
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.
An early season storm brought plenty of rain at the lower elevations along with several inches of snow across the higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks. A few days spent in Lockett Meadow, Inner Basin, and Waterline Road resulted in some colorful images.
The Inner Basin Trail above Lockett Meadows.Along the Waterline Road.A wall of color.Groves of aspen blanket Lockett Meadows and the Inner Basin.
The aspen are showing great colors already and it will get better over the next few days. The snow across the high peaks really sets off the color—but that snow has already begun to fade away…
The aspen have been at their peak color for about a week now. In just a few more days the leaves will fall or be blown away and another fall leaf season will come to an end. We didn’t want to miss the show so we rode our mountain bikes up the Inner Basin Trail to the Waterline Road to enjoy the fabulous colors.
A few years ago the upper portions of the Inner Basin trail underwent some re-routing and the trail now twists and turns through a near surreal stand of aspen as it ascends from Lockett Meadow to the Waterline Road. The landscape has been described as a Monet-like scene when the leaves turn colors in the fall.
Here are a few photos from that day. It just doesn’t get any better than this: beautiful fall colors, mild temperatures, clear skies, and light winds.
Fall is arguably the best season in Flagstaff — although it is often too brief. Winds tend to be light, daytime temperatures are warm, it rarely rains or snows, and the sky is almost always a deep, rich blue. Add to that the changing colors of the leaves of the aspen trees and a mountain bike trip and it becomes a great day.
Mountain biking through the fallen aspen leaves on the Arizona Trail.Hillside of color found along Forest Road 418.
A few days ago, we biked our favorite section of the Arizona Trail between Forest Road 418 and Snowbowl Road. This is a gradual uphill climb between 8000 and 9000 feet and moves through ponderosa pine, aspen forests, and open meadows. There are even a few bristlecone pines to be found here. Many aspen leaves had already fallen leaving a carpet of color on the forest floor and the trail.
Mountain biking along the Waterline Road.Having left the bikes behind it’s time to walk through the forest.The pump house located in the Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks.Descending the switchbacks through the aspens on the Inner Basin Trail.
A week earlier we found ourselves biking the Inner Basin Trail that leads up from Lockett Meadows on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks. The aspen along the Waterline Road were already in full color at this elevation. This section of Waterline Road was spared in the Schultz Fire that burned much of the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peaks in June 2010. Once in the Inner Basin, we stashed the bikes and hiked up the old roads through many aspen groves.
