<p>This photograph was captured during the first week of October near Dallas Divide in the San Juan Mountains above the town of Ridgway, Colorado. The San Juan Mountains provide ideal habitat for some of the most extensive groves of robust, healthy aspen trees in the Rocky Mountains. With plenty of terrain between 8,000 and 10,000 feet and dependable late-summer moisture provided by the monsoon, aspen trees in these mountains may reach diameters of nearly three feet. While aspen occur at high elevations in every western state, they achieve their greatest success in the Colorado Rockies. These small trees have not yet attained heroic proportions here in the shadow of the Sneffels Range. This horizontal photograph was captured with a 6x7 format camera. All photos in these fine art photo galleries may be ordered as fine art framed prints or for stock photography usage.</p>