Silver Lake, near Tribble Lake....

 A month has past since I last blogged.

Life has been mellow and hardly blog worthy; not a bad thing at all.

 But now....

Autumn has intensified its colors while leaving the temperatures in short sleeve wearing range.

The colors and the perfect weather: Time to go on a hike!

 

Luke, Jeff, Bernie and I drove down south to an area in view of Mt. Timpanogas.

We let Luke scamper around a bit before he was loaded into a back pack for a hike up into the mountains.

He selected a leaf and rock to hold.

I selected a perch where the sunlight and shadows would fall just right on his face.

"Show me your rock".

"Show me your leaf".

(Note his new fun lego themed fur lined ready for winter crocs...)

We were hiking through aspen groves, some of which had turned beyond the traditional gold to a rich orange and even red.

About collecting rocks: A big one would be better, right?

He was quite disappointed that we felt that particular rock was a tad heavy for carrying along on a hike.

Especially since both he and the rock would have to be carried on his father's back and shoulders!

The easy part of the trail.

My menfolk all in a row.

There is something nearly holy about every aspen grove in autumn.

 

The aspen ranged from still quite green to nearly finished.

 

I was not the least bit reluctant to take breaks as needed.

Sitting and looking,

looking,

looking...

I take in the scenery deeply.

Later Bernie and Jeff discussed how often they hike in conquer mode and really just see their feet on the trail, forgetting to look up and around them.

I reminded them that that was why I enjoy hiking with others who are doing photography.

We take our time and enjoy the view on the way more than arriving at the trail's end.

Playing in water with many small waterfalls was enjoyed in the pleasantly warm sunshine.

Jeff reminded Luke to be careful.

I reminded Jeff to be careful.

The endless role of a parent is to look after their child's safety.

Did Luke slip and get his bottom wet?

Of course.

In fact Jeff almost did too.

Smile.

Breathtaking views.

We kept saying wow....wow...wow.

Back down the trail we came and it was time for a lakeside lunch.

I would argue that there was not a restaurant any where in the world with a better view on this particular day.

Trees blushing red at their crowns.

Still photography does not do justice to the shimmering lake and shivering leaves about us.

Jeff brought his small propane fired grill, brats, sauerkraut and all the fixings for making a perfect autumn picnic.

We sat and ate and watched the occasional hiker come around the bend of the path.

We wondered at this view: Usually aspen begin their color change up high and the colors ease from green to yellow down to the valley floor.

Here the aspen green was up high and the yellow down below.

Patchwork colors with the red oaks nearly spent, muted due to rain and some snow the previous weekend.

No complaints from us.

In fact we just marveled at the beauty around us and agreed that living here was simply amazing right now.

Bragging really...

So many bloggers are posting their local fall colors now.
I love that everyone is getting color now (well, except for Lovella for some reason....)
It is wonderful that everyone is sharing what fall has brought to their area.
I want to share too...OK...brag actually.
In an attempt to be humble, I will save the most stupendeous color shots for last.
Last weekend Bernie and I noodled around the local areas to see what the colors were up to.
First stop had a small stream that Bernie wanted to try, while I hiked about ten minutes up the trail above it.

The trail has been used for many reasons over time, and I suspect the Mormons were simply following an old Indian trail or deer trail when they came through in the 1840's.
It does add an extra thrill to the hike imagining how it would have been for a pony express rider pelting along the trail way back when.

I imagine not much has changed over time really.

You need to imagine this scene with the scent of warm fallen leaves and the sounds of the stream running below.

Bernie was having a blast catching enormous trout while I was hiking along. 

Snow capped mountains in the distance are an added plus, view wise.

The trail looks quite lonely, actually runners and bikers were out having a go at the trail too.

Long ago I saw a made for television movie series where the pioneers were traveling through dense forests.  A young girl wandered off the trail just a bit...and was lost forever in the wood.
I could see how this could happen.
It happens quite often around here even today, even with experienced outdoorsmen.

The way the trail heads to the peak...I think that was a navigation point for early trail breakers.

We drove up the imaginatively named "East Canyon", twisting and turning and ohh and ahhing as we went.
Bikers and motorcyclist and folks with convertible cars were really enjoying the scenery.

I never get tired of the puzzle pieced effect of fall colors on a hillside.

Other hillsides look like they have been created via a tabby weave; straight lines of colors spill down as if The Weaver had endless colors to choose from.

This sunny scene was so windy I clung to a pole to take this shot!

Utility wire cleared areas add to the visual complexity of the scene.

A convertible or a motorcyle would be too fast, and a bike would be too hard to pedal.
A walk would be out of the question with the high altitude and narrow roadside.
I have decided that a Segway would be the ideal way to take in this drive!
If only it was possible...it would be this photographer's dream come true.

East Canyon spills out into a nearly forestless area.
The brilliant yellows of a few trees and low bushes make for a lovely monochromatic scene.

This car was across the street from the yellow trees.
I had to laugh at the car that seemed placed just to its best advantage colorwise.

As usual, an old tree and a fence makes the picture happen.

A contented black cow no longer awed by the blast of yellow aspens up on the hill above his pasture.

The golden hay in the shed is probably more exciting to this horse than all that far away hillside gold.

Bernie got in some more fishing.

Fall colors are everywhere!

Hunting season is open, and one can never be too careful.
No chance someone is going to be accidently shooting at Bernie's feet with those Crocs on!

I waited and watched from the stile.

When it got dark, Bernie quit fishing and took over my camera.

Do I look happy?
Nothing "glam" in terms of clothes or make-up.
Even my hair is messy.
Yes...this is me at my happiest.
This is exactly how I wanted my life to be, outdoors, comfortable and carefree.

The next morning Bernie flew out...
I had heard Lamb's Canyon's colors were spectacular.
We had hoped to make that drive during our time together, but couldn't quite squeeze it in.
Lamb's is on the way to Park City, a mere fifteen minutes from our house.
Since it is a very narrow canyon with few places to park along the way, I rarely go there for photography.
Judging from what I saw this trip, I had missed some serious photo shooting opportunities before.

Pick a color...any color...

Bernie later told me that people seated by him in the airplane had asked what all the colors were down below.
"Aspen", he told them.
He explained the way that it is in Utah's autumn.
We laughed as the first time I had flown to Colorado from California in October I had wondered the same thing.
Had decided the  colors were fields of California poppies; they had created the only blazing fields I had ever seen up until then.
My friend Gail was the one to introduce me to the truth about fall colors in our area.

Sometimes the fall colors amidst the evergreens look like a fire is blazing away.
You can see that kind of look in the hillsides above the end of the roadway.

This year's colors have lasted longer than I have ever recalled despite the early heavy snows.
Still...in the higher elevations the showing of colors are drawing to an end.

My car's sun roof served me well to take a shot of an abandoned wasps nest overhead.

There was not place to pull over...I just stopped in the middle of road, glad it was on a straight stretch and took the shot through the roof opening!

That cabin...oh those lucky folks living in that cabin right now!
(The rest of the year I don't think I would find their perch quite so appealing as the canyon is mostly snow right up until late July).

Interior designers harp about the need for black in a room to both ground the space and accent the room's color.
Seeing the glowing colors placed on the black tree structure, I think they have learned a truth from nature.
(Even the white barked aspens have slashes of black that serves to intensify the golden leaves around it).
Fall has come down the mountain now, and is swirling around neighborhood gardens in the valley.
Driving anywhere in town is most difficult; I get so distracted by the huge trees in old neighborhoods that are gleaming against blue skies.
Now red Virginia creepers are tangling elaborately through the trees that don't turn color.
Oh it is a feast for the eyes all around.
How clever of God to make Fall colors reveal themselves in stages.
How sweet is the season that colorfully blasts and lasts right up until the time of Christmas!