In a Clearing

A little farm along the edge of the trail,

and a nice cheery red shed,

standing out in the fresh snow.

Vine Maple Canopy

A beautiful fall day for a walk in the woods!

Huckleberries

In recent years we've driven up to Indian Heaven Wilderness in Gifford Pinchot to pick huckleberries for a birthday pie. Last year we went up late in August. Picking was slim, but the leaves were starting to turn red. I decided to try a hike up here in the fall to enjoy the color, and we returned mid-October...only to find the entire area under two feet of snow! Huckleberries start growing around 3500-400 ft. so rain at the lower elevations can mean snow in the mountains. This year we hiked in September, trying to beat the rainy season. We did find some lovely shades of red, especially in the clearings. Hurray! I'd love to get up here again this season; with luck I'll make it back before it snows. 

The Red Leaf

I've commented in previous posts about the fall Vine Maple color in Gifford Pinchot.  I couldn't help noticing that the leaves deep in the forest were a bright yellow,  while the leaves at the edge of the forest or in clearings turned red.  Of course for every rule, there is an exception, and this red leaf (Big Leaf Maple?) was pretty exceptional in my opinion!  Yellow leaves as far as you could look in any direction, and then this one red show off! Just doing his own thing. A true nonconformist.

Looking for Red

I was on a quest for red leaves this past week, driving up to Indian Heaven Wilderness in search of some red huckleberry leaves. No luck there, because snow set in before the leaves could turn. But in the lower elevations the vine maples, which tend to hide in the understory of fir and hemlock forests, are all exceptionally bright this year!  Yellow, deep in the forest, and red along the edge where they get more sunlight. This little guy is growing right on the edge of the forest, all by himself, in order to stand out better I suppose.

November Sky

A red, white, and blue theme for today to showcase some fabulous November clouds.

Skagit Valley

I was up in Seattle over the weekend, which gave me the opportunity to visit the largest tulip farming region in the Pacific Northwest, the Skagit Valley.  The tulip farms center around the towns of LaConner and Mount Vernon, about an hour's drive north of Seattle. I had a short visit here last year in bad weather and my memory was that the tulip color in this area was especially vibrant. I felt that way again on this trip.  The colors seemed almost unnaturally vivid. Be prepared for at least a week's worth of tulip photos!

The Back 40

Another view of the back field at Holland America Bulb Farm in Woodland, Washington.  The front fields include a self pick area and viewing field with labeled rows of each variety grown and sold here.  The back field is larger with thicker bands of color and tulip variety.  Just before the fence line in this photo is a thin strip of yellow and pick tulips, which I know is barely visible in this bright fog.  This photo was taken after sunrise, and it really taxes the abilities of my camera to render extreme light.  Too bad I didn't notice the fence before the sun rose!

Linking to Good Fences.

Serendipity

We had a fabulous ground fog yesterday morning, so I thought I should head back to the tulip farm in Woodland to see if the fog was hanging there too. Turns out there was no fog in the tulip field, but as I drove past the large farm building looking to set my sites elsewhere I discover another large tulip field with plenty of red! And surprisingly, this field was shrouded in a thin layer of fog! This field was not open to the public, so I set up at the edge of the field and waited for sunrise. Too bad the sun rose directly in front of me so it turned out to be way too strong. This photo was taken several minutes before the sunrise.

Seeing Red

Another closeup from my early morning trip to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon on Saturday.  It seems like this backlit closeup was the only type of composition I had any success with.  I need to be more disciplined on my next visit though, because I don't want a tulip closeup this year; I did that last year.  This year I need a tulip field photo.  And I do want red.  So I got it half right at least. Note to self: Next time go right for the red tulips, and no zooming in!

Tulips and Ferns

I'm not sure what that fern-like plant growing between these tulip rows is, but it made for an interesting photograph next to the rosy shade of tulip. I didn't fully realize this until I got home and viewed the photos on my computer or I would have spent more time here, oh well.  This should be the last tulip photo I'm posting this season...although I guess I'm not making any promises.  Also sorry that I forgot to record the tulip variety here.  It appears in the two most recent posts as the thinnest layer of red at the edge of the field.

Skagit Valley Tulips #2

Same field as yesterday, but from a different angle. 

Skagit Valley Tulips

Yet another tulip field, this time from arguable the most famous tulip growing region in Washington, Skagit Valley.  This area about an hour north of Seattle still has a large number of tulip farms, so people drive up here and either drive or bike a large tour route through the fields.  We didn't have a lot of time to visit here, just a short excursion from a trip to Seattle.  And I didn't anticipate how very crowded these country roads would be with cars.  If I drive up here again next year, it will be on a weekday, and earlier in the morning.  Probably the most vibrantly colored fields I've seen all year.  Too bad for the hazy weather!

Out In the Field

I visited Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm later in the morning when the light was getting too bright for photography, but I had pretty good luck with these rows of red and white tulips; I'm not sure why, but the light doesn't look too harsh in these photos.  Yesterday's was taken from the opposite direction, with the sun almost directly facing the red flowers, while in today's photo the flowers are backlit. I think this photo really shows the state of the field, with some rows in bloom and others preparing.   One thing I learned about tulip fields that really surprised me is that they dig up the bulbs every year and replant them in the fall, rotating locations of the different varieties to help with disease, insects, erosion, etc. and they cut all flowers before any petals drop, also to prevent disease. There were lots of workers in the field when I was there on Monday. I just never considered the extent to which tulip field maintenance is a year round job!