Monday, November 2, 2015
Golden cottonwood trees line the wash at the bottom of upper Ute Canyon viewed from the Fallen Rock Overlook about ten minutes after the sun had set.
After returning home from Denver this afternoon, I decided to drive up to the Colorado National Monument about an hour before sunset to see if the cottonwoods in upper Ute Canyon had changed colors yet. I had checked on them a few times over the past two weeks and found them to be mostly green, but this time many of them had changed to a nice golden yellow. After taking a quick hike over to Suction Point, I watched the sun set from near the Fallen Rock Overlook and took a few photos after the sun was down. On my way back down from the overlook I also stopped for a quick photo over Red Canyon towards the city lights of Grand Junction in the distance.
Here’s the view from the Fallen Rock Overlook just after sunset with the Earth’s shadow over the Grand Mesa on the horizon. You can see the Ute Canyon Trail switchbacks down the slope on the right if you look closely.
The lights of Grand Junction in the distance from the Red Canyon Overlook with a bit of alpenglow on Mount Garfield, the Little Book Cliffs, Chalk Mountain and the Grand Mesa.
