Aspen Colors Closeup, Kaibab Plateau

 

 

[Photo: Aspen leaves, Kaibab National Forest, Arizona].

Autumn continues its slow but gradual progression up on the Kaibab Plateau on the northern Arizona Strip. Warm, shortening days along with cool nights still free of frost or an early snow are doing the job. Those conditions tell the aspen trees that there is no hurry to drop leaves. A gradual lessening of the green chlorophyll in their leaves reveals the other colors, especially yellow and gold, sometimes orange and red.

I was slowly cruising through the Kaibab National Forest between Jacob Lake and the North Rim of Grand Canyon, looking for the earliest colors. In the morning light I was able to get close to some lower branches with outstanding colors. The Still green foliage of the other trees behind it served as a rich background to contrast with, along with the clear blue sky.

Autumn gold, blue skies, warm sunlight, chilly nights. The best time of year.

Photo location: Kaibab National Forest, North Kaibab District, near DeMotte Park, Arizona. 

Kaibab Forest Sunset

Sunset, Warm Fire burn, Kaibab National Forest, Arizona

August on the Kaibab Plateau, the "mountain lying down" to the Paiute Indians. The high (7,000-9,000) gently curved mountain with no peaks, raised up from the Marble Platform down below by the Earth's ever flexing forces.

Near the edge of the now eight year old burn left by 1996's Warm Fire (an ironic name for such a massive, hot fire, almost 60,000 acres) I took advantage of the opening in the forest to admire some sunset cloud colors. The day had been one of summer monsoon thundershower activity, but all around me rather than on me. The leftover thunderhead and cumulus clouds reflected the setting sun, and the Ponderosa pine trees provided some nice silhouette shapes.

Photo location: North Kaibab Ranger District, Kaibab National Forest, between Jacob Lake and North Rim of Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona. 

Kaibab Plateau: Sunset Rain Colors, Rainbow Rim

[Photo: Sunset rain colors, Rainbow Rim, northern Arizona.]

A summer evening on the Rainbow Rim in northern Arizona. July: the summer monsoon season has begun. Moisture from Baja California flows north into Arizona, and the clouds build quickly in the mornings. Most mornings. 

Thunder in the afternoon. Lightning around, so keep a wary eye out. Make sure you're not too exposed if it gets within about ten miles of you. If you see lightning in the distance but can't hear the associated thunder, it's too far away to be of concern.

Rain blesses the high desert, and the high lush forests of the Kaibab Plateau. At sunset time, a gap in the clouds on the western horizon arrives right on time. The rain and clouds provide the reflector screen, the veil, for the setting sun, warming the colors to yellow, pink, purple against the blue light in the shadows. 

The Rainbow Rim sits on the edge of two giant chunks of federal land: the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest. On the cusp. Looking down into Grand Canyon north of the Colorado River. 

Photo location: Rainbow Rim, Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Copyright © 2014 Stephen J. Krieg.