Leefapalooza

The gold rush is on, but not in the way you might think. Apparently, every Coloradan and their dog(s) flocked to the mountains last weekend to gawk at Mother Nature’s autumn splendor. And while those of us in the San Juans might have experienced minor frustration over parking at the trail head, the Front Range was a whole different sort of peeping pandemonium.

According to the Denver Post, hordes of leaf oglers parked illegally on mountain roads east of Denver caused hours of backed-up traffic and poor driving conditions, frustrating everyone from mountain residents and law enforcement to the leaf-peepers themselves.

“(Guanella Pass) is beautiful, it’s gorgeous, stunning. If you park on the side of the road where there is not room to park, I hope you stub your toe really hard,” TikTok user Laura Von Sonnenschein said in a video posted Sunday. “You are robbing us of autumn joy because you have turned Guanella Pass into an undrivable, one-lane road.”

In the video’s caption, Von Sonnenschein called the drivers a “buncha ding dongs,” which we think is putting it nicely.

The video shows slow and unmoving traffic as drivers attempt to squeeze past each other on the narrow two-lane road.

“If you want to save three hours of your life waiting in traffic, avoid visiting Guanella Pass,” Dawn Wilson said Sunday on Facebook. “Several areas of the road are gridlocked … Colors looked great, though.”

Another FB post summed up the scene succinctly: “Tried Guanella pass this morning at 9 a.m. … complete sh*t show!”

Meanwhile, down in the relatively quieter San Juans, there’s still time to peep. Here’s a list of updated leaf conditions from the San Juan National Forest as of Wed., Oct. 2:

• Durango to Purg: Partial to Near Peak

• Purgatory to Coal Bank: Peak

• Coal Bank to Molas Pass: Peak

• Molas to Silverton: Slightly Past Peak

• Silverton: Slightly Past Peak (but still gorgeous!)

• Silverton to Red Mtn Pass: Peak

• Red Mtn to Ouray: Peak

• Ouray to Telluride: Near Peak

• Lizard Head to Telluride: Peak

• Rico to Lizard Head: Peak

• Dolores to Rico: Partial to Peak

• Missionary Ridge: Near Peak

• La Plata Canyon: Partial to Near Peak