It's still summer here in the Pacific Northwest. The days are filled with sun and warmth - the thought of grey days still far from our minds. We're out hiking, camping, boating and generally enjoying the season. The leaves are still green. The flowers are still blooming. And there's a sense that it will never end.
But sadly, summer has to end.
It always does.
The evidence is out there if you know where to look for it.
The transition starts high where the summer season is shortest.
At 5400 feet, summer is short lived at Cascade Pass in the North Cascades National Park Complex. Just a couple of months ago there was snow on the alpine meadows here. And now, during the Labor Day weekend the Gentian is blooming - the flower that herald's the coming of fall.
And yet, as the wildflowers die off or go to seed the color has not left the meadows.
The leaves of the False Hellebore have started to yellow, a tarnished gold on the tips yellowing to green. An eye-catching color as you hike past. It's enough to draw your eye away from the alpine scenery, look down and marvel at nature's beauty.
Shifting seasonal color can also be found lower in the forest below the pass. Lady ferns turning brown against the still green leaves of devil's club and starry false solomon's seal whisper the transition from summer to fall.
All too soon the meadows will be filled with the reddened blueberry bushes with the 1st kiss of frost on their leaves. I love this transitional period and savor the colors of nature as they turn from flowers and greenery to the warm burnished colors of fall.
I encourage you too to go out and play in nature as it welcomes fall.
