Sea of Aspens – Colorado

Sea of Aspens – West Elk Mountains, Colorado

The cinnabar flourish of Gambel’s Oak accents a golden sea of Quaking Aspens that wash ashore at the foot of the West Elk Mountains. Aspens often reproduce by spreading root suckers and so create extensive groves of genetically identical trees. Such stands of aspen are, in effect, a single organism and thus turn color all at once. The pictured stand is part of a sprawling aspen grove that is considered the largest in Colorado, and one of the largest single organisms in the world. Flanked on two sides by designated wilderness, this section of the forest lies outside the Raggeds and West Elk Wilderness area boundaries.