With seasonal craziness at Highwood Pass (saw about 150 cars at 9:20am), there are many other places to see larches. As a bonus, saw the only one other person on the ridge (well, there were 12 others at a ford but not sure where they went as never saw them again).
The ridge is rather long but the views are worth it.

PS: can't recommend the way out we took though; the map is outdated and part of the "trail" is seriously washed out; better return the same way.