It’s a thing. It’s even a hashtag – #larchmadness. See for yourself.
Sky and I had lots of opportunities to see the golden alpine larch trees last week. We met a lady from New Orleans on a trail and she asked me, “Are all these trees going to die?” I reassured her that it was normal for larch needles to turn yellow and fall to the ground each this time of year.
But honestly, how many images of golden larches do I need?
If you spend much time hiking or camping in the Cascades, sooner or later, you will be surrounded by Camp Robbers and I hope they are the avian kind. Canada Jays (formerly known as Gray Jays) are pretty birds that enjoy people. They know that people come with food and the jays seem to know if they are sweet and cute, eventually, someone will give them a handout. Sky and I saw this group on one of our hikes last week.
Sky and I have enjoyed some really great hikes in the last week. The October weather has been perfect for it and the colors are just outstanding this year. After the gruesome summer this is such a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.
Here is the first one from last week. I found lots of scat of various colors and sizes. It makes me think that it is a good area for wildlife although I only observed a few birds. The wildfire near Conconully was still sending up some smoke.
The Aurora Borealis put on a terrific show last night. I hope everyone got to go outside and see it!
The stars put on a good show too. I had hoped to make a blue hour blend but the app I had in hand, gave me incorrect information. It said the Milky Way would rise over the lone pine tree looking west across the lake but that is not how it happened. It appeared almost due south instead. I started making images around 8:00 and continued til 11:00 pm when the Milky Way was getting dimmer and air glow was increasing. Still lovely. And I had a warm campfire I shared with Luna. Sky prefers to go to bed early.
I probably need lessons in learning the night sky apps. They are not intuitive for me. Most night sky photos you see are blends or composites well planned out with the help of an app. Maybe I am too spontaneous to ever use one effectively.
My Everyday Photos 