Barr Lake at Brainard Lake Area Sunset Point

Author's Comments

The Peak to Peak Highway is one of those drives where I have learned to leave earlier than I think I need to. Not because the destination matters, but because the pullouts do, and choosing the wrong one at sunset is a mistake you cannot undo. The stretch between Nederland and Ward runs west-facing for long enough that the Indian Peaks stay with you for miles, and in the last two weeks of September the aspen groves along the corridor turn in waves rather than all at once. Some stands go early. Some hold their green into October. The result is a layered gold that reads more honestly than the postcard version of Colorado fall, which tends to flatten everything into a single hue. I scout on the way up. I drive the whole stretch first, slowly, marking the pullouts that have the right relationship between foreground aspen and the Divide behind them. Most are unmarked. A few are barely wide enough for one car. The composition I am usually after wants golden trees in the middle distance and snow on the high peaks beyond, with enough sky left for the alpenglow to do its work. Sunset here moves fast. The peaks catch pink for maybe four minutes, sometimes less if there is haze in the valley, and the aspens lose their internal glow almost immediately after the sun drops behind the ridge. You want to be set up well before then. You want to know which pullout you are committing to. Bring a wide lens. Bring something warm to wear. The temperature falls the moment the light does.

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