Tonight's visitor and pictures from around here

What a joy for Maya to finally see one of these, here!  She's visited so many times and heard our stories, but never got to see a big boy in person.  Tonight I had just returned home from work and it was just getting dark.   We were talking and I looked out the window to see this big guy headed toward the house.  I'm pretty sure he would have come all the way up here too, if a certain German Shepherd wouldn't have barked and scared it back into the trees.  It was a treat for both of us, but esp. Maya who had never seen one in the wild.  Hang out with "the Whisperer" long enough.. and I'll deliver :).Here are some beautiful fall pictures taken this past week.  
A red-tailed hawk hunts rodents in our meadow...
The stellar jays are gorgeous, but so noisy.  This one makes a beautiful photo with the cloud layers for a backdrop.

Can't get enough of the leaves...

The Pumpkin Porch

Tonight's carving results...

A cute, but seemingly angry owl...
A crow at night...
And no pumpkin carving would be complete without channelling our inner hillbilly...
The trio together...

More fabulous fall...

Here is the tree by our gate 2 weeks ago...Here it is last week...
Beautiful path near the lake
I enjoy watching the osprey fish at Rattlesnake Lake. They are remarkable at their craft and dive from heights to splash down into the water and grab large fish.  The lift off with the fish on wet wings always looks like a struggle.  Then holding the squirming fish, they fly in circles waiting for it to stop moving before they find a tree suitable for dining.  The lighting was not bright enough to get a crisp picture (stuck with slow shutter) this day, but I was pleased that a photo came out showing the size of the trout vs. bird.
I love this picture because the hill behind looks like it's on fire with trees....
Crisp temps, beautiful trees... fall is amazing!

While the rest of the world waited for traffic signals to turn green, listened to conference calls, hit the grocery store and gym and rushed around, these tiny insects worked diligently on this flower- either seeking refuge from weather, enjoying the aphids or perhaps both.  I'm reminded to slow down and enjoy.  We only get one lap around this track.

A beautiful autumn hike

I worked my tail off this past weekend, so I took Friday off to do some hiking. My criteria for finding where to go was: a) it had to be a place where there would be few people b) had to have fall colors c) had to be a brand new place I haven't explored.

After pouring over guide books, Summit and I set out for Paddy-go-easy Pass and Sprite Lake near Hyas Lake and Mt. Daniel...on the Cle Elum side of the pass.

The day was dry with sun-breaks, although the fall chill was in the air (43 degrees when I took off). There was not a soul insight, which made it such an amazing trip- we had this gorgeous alpine lake and entire hike to ourselves. I felt like an ancient explorer waiting to find out what was around the next turn and really enjoyed having Summit along for company. The colors were popping and I was treated to some wonderful yellow larch trees as we neared the top of the hike. After 3,000 feet of elevation gain in 3 miles (yowza), the reddish rock, the mountains (called the Cradle), the autumn colors, and the turquoise lake were a great reward. The lake and the high areas are at 6100 feet, so it's only a few days before they are covered in snow. It really was a last look at what will soon be sleeping and inaccessible by the human foot. We've had a spectacular Sept/Oct, but they say on Tuesday the rains are coming- which means mountain snow and perhaps the "unofficial" start of our normal fall in the Northwest. I was happy to squeeze in at least one more beautiful autumn hike!

Wildflowers...

I planted some wildflower seeds in our meadow last year and a few of them decided to pop up! The second one pictured here is really quite a spectacle.  It's growing all alone in a sandy area and is healthy, full and bright orange.  Any ideas what it is?