Fall Comes to Summit County, Colorado

So there are still quite a few flowers blooming in the county.

 

However the Aspens are beginning to turn to bright yellow and many of the wildflowers have gone to seed.

The willows are becoming all colors of the spectrum from green through various yellows into red. Above all the meadows of grasses are coming into their splendor. I often think that a meadow with high grasses is just as attractive as a wildflower meadow, with as much variety of color, and a plethora of different seed heads.

The sunlight on some clumps of grass makes the seeds appear like sparklers on a July 4th evening.

The sage brush insterspersed in the grasses gives a dusty blue contrast to the shades of the grasses.

Go out in a meadow of grass after a rain or a frost and the contrasts of textures and hues is magnified.

I am lucky to live in Frisco, Colorado next to the Summit County bike path and Lake Dillon.

My daily walk with my dog Sawyer, takes me into the wetlands on Lake Dillon and I am able to see the changes in the grasses and the undergrowth in the forest on a daily basis.

Another favorite wetlands meadow for me is at Farmer's Corner & Swan Mountain Road, at the southern tip of Lake Dillon. In winter this area is transformed into an area for snow kiting http://bit.ly/b8zZ4a, but in the Fall it offers a myriad of colors for any passers by on Highway 9. Stop at the parking spot next to the lake some time and enjoy this assault on your visual senses.

After looking through this photo montage of  Summit County, when you are out and about in the county, open your eyes to the beauty of grasses, especially this year when our late Spring moisture has led to a bumper crop.

All pictures were taken with my Blackberry as I walked or drove in my neck of the woods.