Living – Places: 7
2012 (continued)
Autumn grasses as we're heading up valley on the trail to Cub Lake.
At Cub Lake, the water-lilies were like cups of sunshine.
The autumn foliage on the trail up beyond Cub Lake.
What is it about glowing golden aspen leaves that makes the sky look so blue?
The glow of the aspens against the green of the pine forest.
Looking back at Cub Lake on the way over the hill.
On the outskirts of Estes Park early in the morning, a sizable herd of elk crossed the road in front of us. The alpha male hung back until the entire herd was across, then gracefully leapt the fence, crossed the road and leapt the second fence. But then he turned around because one young elk was having trouble jumping the barbed wire fence.
The alpha male jumped back and ran out onto the road, protecting the young one from a couple cars that were stopped. He patiently waited until the young one finally made it across. Then he bugled to warn off a couple other large males that were following further down the road behind us, joined his herd, and led them up the hill.
Tosh enjoying his first hike with poles.
The aspens were so bright!
Our first glimpse of Balanced Rock.
Looking up at Balanced Rock from below.
Garima framed in gold.
One of my all-time favorite sections of trail.
Pear lake in autumn. One of our rare moments of sunshine for the day. Moments later, we huddled behind a large boulder to eat lunch, while graupel snow (like little styrofoam balls) bounced around us.
On the way back down, the sun came out again, lighting up the golden grasses of this area transitioning from marsh.
The sun came out again for about 15 minutes when we reached Finch lake, giving us a chance to warm up and enjoy the peaceful silence.
The grasses along the shoreline were glowing in the sunshine.
A gorgeous view of reflected sky and clouds.
Most of the Aspen leaves are off the trees now, but here and there we still saw some remaining brilliant stands.
The view up the hill into the deep blue sky from our lunch spot.
Once we had climbed up about 1,000 feet, we were hiking in snow. Hello, winter!
Wallace Falls trail, northeast of Seattle, in the Cascades just north of Highway 2 to Stevens Pass. I think this is the wettest place I've ever been.
Once in awhile, the sun would break through momentarily and set the bearding aglow.
Could anything more possibly grow on this old stump?
A glimpse of Wallace river.
