I finally got around to driving up to Grand Mesa. The fall colors are just beginning: dry mountain slopes were covered in rust and gold; cascades of yellow and orange poured down the ravines from the top of the mesa. I was wanting to get up there and see some GREEN - and I did and it was lovely.

What I couldn't capture with the camera were the scent of the evergreens and the sound of the wind through the forest. There was almost no one else up there. I saw a few people near the parking area and trailhead but I saw no one else on the trail. It was eerie to walk along this wide, well-maintained hiking trail, complete with benches, and not see anyone else. Grand Mesa doesn't offer many grand vistas from the trails. It's mostly flat land - a relative concept in Colorado - okay, it's mostly a rolling forested landscaped, dotted with natural and human-made lakes. I don't enjoy going to Grand Mesa in the summer. There are lots of people up there then but the worst of it are the mosquitoes. They are large and fierce and persistent. In the winter it's a big cross-country ski and snowmobile paradise. This time of year is just perfect as far as I'm concerned. Not many people, the mosquitoes are gone, it's cool, the colors are outrageous.

Isn't that photo lovely? Aw, I don't know if I can capture just how beautiful it is there without the smells and sounds.

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. So here are 3,000 words ~ adieu