Autumn is a perfect time to be in the mountains. Admittedly, any season is terrific. In fall, however, there are many chances to see wildlife, because the summer breeding season is over but hunting season hasn't started. And, in the West the mountains are gorgeous, because aspen, larch and cottonwood trees turn brilliant yellow. We love how the Western Larch (Larix occidentalis) - a conifer that loses its needles each fall - contrasts with its evergreen peers. We saw this aspen leaf (Populus tremuloides) subtly shaded and sporting rhinestones from an overnight shower in Jackson Hole WY.
Aspen leaves near Signal Mountain in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
News & Notes
Our trip into the Rockies included three highlights.
Tour of Grand Teton National Park
The Teton Range and Jackson Hole, Wyoming are favorites of ours. We have camped and hiked there many times. And we've climbed the 13,776' Grand Teton (4,199 m), though it might have been one or two feet shorter when we did it. It's still on the rise! So, as always, it was fun to come back. Mostly, it's a very, very, very picturesque part of America.
The Teton Range
Tour of Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is a place where buffalo (Bison bison) still roam, though many of them apparently prefer to lie around in the tall grass. (For the record we also saw deer and antelope, but they weren't playing.) Like the Tetons, we've visited the park many times, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is always impressive. We checked out the Beryl Hot Spring, Roaring Mountain and others, but our main interest this time was Yellowstone's amazing geology. We'll save you the details, but the rock called Huckleberry Welded Tuff is too pretty to skip!
Yellowstone's American Bison
Visit to Jim and Julie in Libby MT
We spent a few days in Libby getting caught up with Jim and Julie. Also, we inspected Judy and Ed's now completed log "cabin". They did most of the work themselves, and it is just as gorgeous inside! Our friend Tom caught a 5 lb rainbow trout, so we shared a delightful trout dinner with Tom and his wife Alvira. And, we brunched with Doug and Dolly, who recently returned from a pack trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area where, because of wild fires, they were helicoptered out in the middle of the night! We enjoyed our visit to Libby immensely.
Did you hear the one about ...
We took a quick trip to Chicago to visit Dave. It was the week of the Architecture Biennial, so we toured Chicago looking at new architectural ideas and awesome existing architecture. The River Walk along the Chicago River is an excellent place to view the city's important buildings, but it is also a pleasant place to stroll both day and night. We dined with our longtime friends Beth and Dale and their delightful daughter Jessica. And we met up with Alden and Laura and their lovely daughters Nora and Anna.
At Madlener House D & J Look Up the Next Biennial Exhibit
Our friend Martin Tompa has published Winning with Schnapsen. Schnapsen is a "trick-based" card game and the national game of Austria. Martin carries the reader from the basic rules to advanced strategies for experts. Best of all the last chapter shuffles schnapsen games with his family's history escaping from Europe. It's an ingenious way to describe his family's favorite game.
Regular readers will recall our report (20 June 2015) that we had "tadpole-like" baby salamanders in the pond. The next issue reported that they were gone. Now one has been spotted hidden beneath fallen leaves in our garden, allowing us to confirm that they are Ambystoma macrodactylum, or long toed salamanders.
We rarely see eclipses in Seattle because cloud cover is so common, but on 27 September the sky was clear for the total lunar eclipse. To see it well, we visited a beach in Kingston WA, terminus of one of the Puget Sound ferry crossings. Despite using a pocket camera, we got both the eclipse and the arriving ferry boat in one shot.
Ferry Arriving in Kingston Beneath The Lunar Eclipse
For the first time ever L thought to take a picture at a SIGBeer meeting. (The acronym is computer jargon for: Special Interest Group on Beer.) The group's special interest is the drinking aspect of beer. Left to right, front then back: David, John, Burton, L.
SIGBeer Meeting at Brouwer's
To avoid ending this post with those crusty old men, we offer a prize-winning dahlia from the Washington State Fair.
Prize Winner
