The best time for fall colours in the mountains is mid September. But what with the fires and poor weather I had to wait until October 10th to grab a day I thought might work.

It was pretty gloomy going up. (These are the lupin fields in June)

But higher up, as I had gambled upon, the fog started to lift.

And finally it was clear.

A rare red willow.

Hell Ravin’ Peak looks like a pencil drawing.

Round the corner on the way to the mine, one side of the valley was mostly snow-free.

Despite the sun, it was still pretty chilly. I was dressed for the arctic.

White bark pines are dwarfed up here. This one was laden with cones. The Clarkes nutcracker had already ripped out a lot of the seeds. They stash them all over the place but don’t find them all and this is how the forest is spread. The cones don’t open alone and the pine cannot survive without the nutcracker.

The truck was parked half way down the mountain. Still a surprising amount of smoke about.

Nearby was a vivid Sitka mountain ash.

I was lucky to fit in this spectacular day.