A beautiful autumn day and the prospect of fantastic colors enticed 17 participants to the trail. We saw giant yellow leaves of bigleaf maple and had a competition to find the largest leaf. Beaked hazelnut had only a few yellow leaves and no nuts, but male catkins were forming in anticipation of next year. Dogwoods glowed red and pale white. Mock orange was pale yellow, and Oregon white oak a brassy bronze. Black oak flamed gold and scarlet. Meter-long compound leaves of California spikenard were green and yellow, and some globes of dark berries persisted.
We saw white berries of snowberry and red berries of honeysuckle, and ever the green background of incense-cedar, ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, white fir, Pacific yew, and madrone. A large spray of bright red madrone berries, dropped from high above, was found on the ground near the bridge crossing.
Bracken fern, giant and pale, filled the sides of the path, colored pastel with fallen leaves. Several species of mushroom popped their caps out of the ground. Leaves of the tall white alders were falling withered green and brown, filling the air with an acidy smell. Coming back along the road, the Cascade lilies had fruit capsules full of seeds stacked like poker chips in their chambers.
I thank everyone for the great turnout for my last walk as Fieldtrip Chair. I will be leading or coordinating an occasional walk next year for our new Chair, Chris Harvey. See you on the trail! -John Springer
