FALL COLORS TAKE OVER
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — From the snowdusted peaks of Arizona’s San Francisco Mountains to the fire-singed hillsides surrounding this northern New Mexico town, Mother Nature is signaling that fall is here.
For Los Alamos, this year marks one of the first in which the aspens are big enough — and bright enough — to catch the attention of fall-leaf peepers. The area was devastated in 2000 and again in 2011 by record-setting wildfires that wiped out entire mountainsides of oldgrowth from ponderosa pine to fir trees and everything in between.
Aspens and scrub oak have returned to some of the areas charred by the Cerro Grande Fire after more than a decade. At the edges of the burn scar left by the more recent Las Conchas Fire, aspens can be seen peeking out from behind TOP: ABOVE: burned stands of pine trees.
The West has been ravaged by wildfire in recent years, in part due to the combination of overgrown forests and worsening drought. While the flames have reduced the number of spots where people can take in the fall colors, experts say some locations promise to be even brighter as vegetation recovers and aspens fill the void.
Federal and state land managers say fall colors are at their peak in the high country around Flagstaff, along the Mogollon Rim and on Mount Lemmon near Tucson. The lower elevations around Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona are expected to begin producing more golden canopies in the next week or so.
In New Mexico, some spots in the far north are already past their peak thanks to cooler temperatures. Areas along the Rio Grande Valley and to the south are beginning to pop as aspens, oak and cottonwoods change color.