Crystal Mill is one of those Colorado places that looks impossible until you are standing in front of it. The old wooden structure clings to the rock above the Crystal River, surrounded by aspens that turn the hills into flame in October. I had seen photographs of it for years. Being there still surprised me.I arrived early enough that the canyon was quiet and the light was just beginning to find the leaves. The mill stayed in shadow while the aspens above it caught gold and orange. I worked the composition until the river, the building, and the autumn color felt balanced rather than crowded. Fall in the Rockies moves fast. Wind can strip a hillside in an afternoon. On this morning the trees held, and the mill looked like it had been waiting for that exact light since the nineteenth century.
