2018 turned out to be a year of poor weather. Colorado was experiencing one of it's worse droughts in many years. As a landscape photographer, cloudless skies do not make for the best imagery. Though I took advantage of the wild colors and light produced by smoke filled skies, I was yearning for the daily storms that were normally expected. Monsoon season was a no-show, so my hopes was on the Autumn season. Climate forecasts were predicting a wetter than normal Autumn, I was anxious.

I knew, from past drought years, the Aspen trees would change early so I planned my fall colors trip a couple of weeks earlier than I normally would. I was right about the early change, so I headed out to Telluride to get what I could of the fall colors. My first trip wasn't all that it cracked up to be, though I still came away with a couple keepers. The colors were still a little green so I planned another trip to Telluride, again just hoping for something this year. The climate forecasts for Autumn were looking to be wrong as the drought would not relinquish it's grip on the state. Even daily forecasts that called for rain ended up being days of cloud free skies.

On my second trip to Telluride things were about to change. Oh, the first 4 days were definitely bland and boring with no clouds nor rain, nor was there any hints of snow, something I anticipate with much glee every Autumn. That evening on the 4th day, it all changed, the remnants of a hurricane finally broke through, FINALLY, clouds, and what is that I see? Rain? Do I see a fresh blanket of snow on the highest peaks? That was day 5 my last day there. Perhaps a little late, but I can forgive mother nature this time as she gave me one of my best days for the year.

The above photo was the evening of day 4 as the storm started rolling in. It sure looked promising. The clouds kept getting darker as the evening wore on. It actually cleared out at night. I was about to start cursing at the sky. I couldn't stop thinking "oh here we go again!" I was in for a treat that following morning.

The same location that following morning, snow started falling on the tops of the peaks. The famous Wilson Peak is on the right

looking at the opposite direction as more snow is falling deep in the Sneffels Range.

Nothing is quite as spectacular as stormy weather rolling through mountains while a couple of slivers of sunshine peak through like here on Wilson Peak in the above photo.

As the skied started turning more gray as the day progressed I started turning my attention to some of the details like the Aspen lined road in the image above.

Or this photo above with some slivers of light shining on the trees. Do you see the old house in the shadows?

Onto the Sneffels Range for sunset, found along Last Dollar Road. Most of the high peaks were obscured by the clouds

a dramatic pinnacle of the Sneffels Range unveiled for a brief period along Last Dollar Road between Telluride and Ridgway

The cimarron Mountains at sunset, above Ridgway, this was the last photo taken.

The photos below are some of the rest of the photos taken during my two trips to Telluride

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