More Fall Pics...

Thursday, we got up up early and hit the road with coffee in hand to check out some of the more remote fall foliage. It was a gorgeous day, a little foggy, but the sun was trying hard to break through the clouds. Our first nice view of the Tamaracks, was on the road leaving our house looking west. The sun was hitting the mountainside just right and illuminated the golden trees perfectly.


We decided to head west out of Danville where David took me on a road I had not yet explored. We got some nice shots of the Kettle River looking back east along with the Tamaracks on the mountainsides and along the river's banks.



Since we had some time to kill before the sun would completely burn off the early morning cloud cover, we drove on to Curlew and then west toward Chesaw. The trees lining the Kettle west of Curlew were gorgeous. David had already decided to take me on a Forest Service road over the mountains to Chesaw instead of going the paved route...a decision we would relish later in the morning. We turned off the highway and began following the wagon train of hunting rigs through the thick, gloomy forest. The further we drove the brighter our surroundings became as we drove out of the cloud bank and higher up on the mountain. Finally, as we neared the top, we saw an amazing sight...The Kettle River valley leading to Curlew was below us under the clouds, but the distant mountain tops shone in the sun along with thousands of brilliantly-colored Tamaracks all around us. It was breathtaking.




We headed further west and started down the mountain toward Chesaw. As we crossed over the mountain, we could see amazing views of the mountains in Canada, the mountains above Oroville and Chesaw, and on the furthest horizon, the snow-capped North Cascades. The morning was beautiful, cool, and crisp. And the air smelled super sweet and fresh after the hard freeze of the night before.




After going through Chesaw, we turned back onto the pavement and headed back over the mountains to grab lunch in Republic. On the way, we drove by a series of small lakes alongside the road and had to stop to take pictures at one lake...the water was as smooth and still as glass, reflecting perfectly the yellow Tamaracks above its waters on the mountainside. A stunning, perfect mirror image was created by nature.




On Friday we went to Colville to run a few errands. It was still rainy and cold and we knew we might run into a little snow or ice on the pass, but we were prepared and had our chains on hand. Right as we came up on the pass, the trees went from being just yellow and green to being flocked with a dusting of snow. So pretty.