Fall in Colorado

I think fall is my favorite time of year in Colorado.  I do miss the bright foliage of New England, but other than that this time of year is just gorgeous out here.  First of all, the weather is awesome.  It's dry, it's sunny, and there are very few thunderstorms.  The evenings and nights are getting cold (even down to mid 40s), but the days are still in the upper 80s.  The colors here are amazing, too, even though there aren't bright red maples.  In the high country, aspen are turning bright yellow and small tundra plants are changing to red, rust, and brown.  Juxtaposed with the green evergreens, it's beautiful.  In town, grasses are turning golden yellow and the foothills have a bright, earthy tone to them.

Unfortunately, this very dry, sunny weather and yellowed grass creates high fire conditions.  The last week over 1,000 firefighters from 20 states have been fighting the 4-mile fire just a few miles west of us.  Dan has posted some pics of the smoke, which has been terrible this week.  At this point, 73% of the 11-square mile fire has been contained.  169 families lost their homes and the Rez (Boulder Reservoir) has been turned into a firefighters' tent town.  It's been a rough week in Boulder for all those poor families and hardworking firefighters.