In Search of Fall Colours

[Daboo]

So with a week of unexpected warm dry weather after several days of rainy weather, James (jtvisions) and I headed off in search of the elusive fall foliage. Our destination was the North Cascades Highway. Getting there requires some riding along two-lane country roads that are a delight in their own right...and a chance to see the leaves turning.




Hwy 530 takes you by the site of the Oso landslide. https://www.slidememorial.com/about It's hard to get a feel for what happened by looking at the picture I took. It doesn't give a feel for having a huge portion of the mountain bury a town under 70 feet of debris.



This one off the Internet gives a better perspective.



Some other pics along the route.





This is on Hwy 20. I love the peaceful tranquilty of this valley with the sight of snow-covered mountains in the background.






Nearing Newhalem.



James is walking toward Diablo Lake dam that you can see between the trees.









Down the road past the lakes.



Washington Pass Overlook





Liberty Bell mountain. I never get tired of looking at this mountain.





James took me on a short detour in the town of Newhalem to visit the "Gorge". An interesting bit of info about this picture, is those trees up there above the town were on fire a few years ago. The fire came that close!





Behind the Gorge powerhouse, is the Ladder Creek Falls trail. I believe the area was created by the first superintendent and served as a play area for his two daughters. It's lit now, and in normal times, there are ranger tours.









Near Arlington toward the end of the day.



Cool pic of the Cascade mountains and the moon rising.



Not easy to see, but if you look on the horizon, you can see Mt. Rainier.



Chris

[Richard230]

Your pictures are beautiful, Chris. Certainly better than if you had tried to see fall colors in Northern California, where all you would have seen yesterday would have been grey leaves though the heavy smoke - assuming you could get past the closed highways. I have a friend who lives about 20 miles east of the Glass fire and he sent me a photo of the sunrise yesterday. The sun was blood red and he said that the Air Quality Index was 380 in his area. Not a good time to visit the area.

[Royce]

As always, Chris, your photography is top-notch. Thanks for sharing.

[Big Ger]

Damm Chris I am jealous! Last weekend was great after the monsoon rains on Friday which we needed for the fires & cleared out most of the smoke!
I got stuck helping my neighbor build a metal pole building. I have never done the North Cascades run but we definitely will after seeing your photos.
Thanks for sharing the ride!! 👍🏽

[Davdundrod]

Outstanding photos Chris, not only my home Ireland beautiful . David