Pretty pictures from the weekend

Sorry I was late with these, but I hope you find the pictures worth the wait.

As we headed up into the mountains, the Brazos Cliffs (which have appeared as landmarks in previous pretty pictures) fell from view behind a ridge.

Here is a ridge that shows some of the red color of the oaks, which usually don't provide much color, but which did provide some this year.

When we got higher up into the mountains, we had some spectacular views, such as this one.

Near the summit of the pass, we got a more up-close view of the Brazos Cliffs.

Then we got around to the backside of the cliffs, where we got some spectacular views. The aspens in this area seem mostly to have escaped the caterpillar infestation that dulled a lot of the rest of the scenery.

There was snow on the ground at the higher elevations, and Pat made a couple of snowballs. If you look in the distance, just to the left of the lowest point of the V of land in the background, you can see a sliver of Heron Lake.

In spite of the caterpillar infestations, there were some good stands of aspen to take pictures of. The contrast of the brilliant golden leaves and the vivid blue sky is poorly represented here; to really appreciate the energy of the colors, you actually have to be here. Because of the altitude, there's less air between New Mexico and outer space, so the sky is a much deeper color than it is at sea level. You have to see it to believe it.

Another dramatic color effect is the contrast between the bright-gold aspen and the darker evergreens (mostly spruce and fir) among which the aspen grow.

This picture has a little bit of everything: golden aspen, red oak, dark evergreens, vividly blue sky, and some grass and wildflowers in the foreground.