McClure’s Aspens

Story

Perseverance is the key ingredient in McClure’s Aspens. Oh, I was hoping to make such a photograph and searched high and low across what seemed to be most of Colorado in search of just such a scene. Alas, I was not successful, yet I pressed on, always looking. I decided to see if McClure’s Pass and the forests around there might yield the perfect scene.

The uneventful journey up to the top of McClure’s Pass in Colorado ended in the clouds. At least, I am pretty sure they were clouds given the altitude, but it could have been fog. Either way, whiteness enveloped and surrounded me, preventing me from seeing more than a few feet in front of me.

Had the road not begun its descent I wouldn’t have known for sure I was at the top. However, I also knew that an astounding aspen grove–McClure’s Aspens–was just out of my sight and decided patience was required to see what might develop. After all, the morning was young, and the sun probably wasn’t too high yet. Or, at least I hoped. Sometimes, hope is enough.

In time my gamble paid off. The cloud, or maybe fog, ever so slowly, began to thin and dissipate. Eventually, in what seemed an eternity, only the barest tendrils wafted through the now-revealed aspens. Even better, the sun was right where I hoped it would be and perfectly lit the aspens. In just a few moments more the last traces of the morning mists disappeared. 

The magical light of McClure’s Aspens

The gentle light of the morning illuminated the aspens and the underbrush. Freshly wet, the forest glowed magically in the light, and the breezes held off until I made McClure’s Aspens. As I was packing my gear, the breezes sprang up, the sun went behind clouds, but I had finished my work.