Beverly & I were stuck overnight in the DC area on our way home from our latest trip. Fortunately, the colors of Autumn were peaking, so the following morning we took the opportunity to take a bit of a detour on our way to the airport for a little photography. We asked our cab driver to take us “someplace pretty” and this is where we ended up. With few exceptions like the Lost Maples State Park (click for a link to some photos) we don’t really get these colors in Texas. Typically here the leaves just go from green to brown & fall on the ground, so it’s always a treat to spend a bit of time surrounded by such blazing foliage.
Just south of Glacier National Park there is a stream that parallels Highway 2. The Aspens on it’s banks were changing to their golden fall colors when we were there providing a nice contrast to red rocks in the crystalline water. THe weather was a perfect as it appears. It would have been nice to have a few nice poofty white clouds to break up that bright blue sky, but hey… I’m not complaining.
Typically when I think of Autumn colors, I envision the changing of trees from their spring & summer palate of greens, to the Autumn colors of golds & reds. That is not always possible. There are very few trees that survive the altitude at Logan’s Pass in Glacier National Park, so nature paints the ground with the colors of fall. The beautiful Autumn day Beverly & I made the hike from Logan’s Pass to Hidden Lake the weather was perfect. There was only the slightest hint of the cold that would soon overtake the mountain. Meanwhile, amazing clouds flowing over the contours of the land provided the perfect backdrop for the high country grasses awash with Autumn golds and reds.
According to my iPhone it’s 75 degrees outside, and it’s raining. Those are two wonderful things in Austin Texas where we have just experienced the hottest, driest, summer on record. Perhaps (probably) it’s my imagination, but I can taste the slightest hint of Autumn & I can’t wait. I’m ready to sleep with the windows open & feel the trepidation of slipping out from underneath the warm blankets in the early morning. I’m ready to pull on a sweater & light a fire in the fireplace. And, I’m ready to go on my annual pilgrimage seeking out the colors of Autumn. Last year there was a beautiful display of color at the Lost Maples State Park in the Texas hill country. Here is another image from that trip. Any suggestions where I should go this year?
