River's Edge

Here's my final photo from our hike along the Netarts River outside of Tillamook. It happens to be the first photo I took too. I would have liked to place these rocks differently, but the large rock is half in the water and half on land, so this image is right at the edge of the river, and also at a bend near the trailhead. Not nearly as much movement of the water here. Probably a slightly different mix of trees too (I wish I would have paid more attention to the makeup of the trees!) 

Netarts River

Another version of the liquid gold photo from our fall hike along Netarts River last week.  I felt like there was more green than yellow in the trees, so the reflection color was really surprising to me. I compared these images to some from a photo shoot up near Lake Tahoe a few years ago and was surprised by the color difference. Near Lake Tahoe reflecting trees were Aspens, and the reflection color was more of a lemon yellow. I regret not paying more attention to the tree variety along Netarts River, but definitely some evergreen mixed in with big leaf maple which turns a yellow to rusty color, so I guess a gold color must have more green in it.  We're probably still a few weeks away from peak leaf color.

Liquid Gold

The road to Tillamook follows the Netarts River down the coastal range. I didn't have to get very far up that road, maybe 15 minutes driving, before I had left the thick fog behind and found myself in a beautiful sunny early fall scene. I could see that the river was reflecting the yellowing big leaf maples so Clover and I made an unplanned stop for a river hike. (Lucky dog! She even went for a little swim!)  After all that thick morning fog, I have to say I felt a little like Dorothy when she arrived in Oz! 

Linking to Weekend Reflection