Jim Dailey

Colorado Aspen and Arkansas Hardwoods …

I simply love Fall … the pictures below make this point in living color.
An eight mile hike yesterday in the Arkansas Ouachita Mountains gave me a glimpse of the colors to come. My shot of grouped leaves was just enough to get me thinking poetically … Wine colors … Cabernet, Pinot, Chardonnay. Fruit colors … Limon, Lime, Orange, Peach, grape. And the Elixer of the Gods, the golden brown richness of 18 year old Macallan single malt scotch.

Most of the shots were of Colorado Aspen at the peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Clearly they speak for themselves. In addition there are shots of Elk … this is the rutting season and we witnessed the evening ritual of female elk drifting into the meadows followed by first the bugling of males and then the grand entry of these huge, stately creatures.

We were celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of friends … just had to go to the Historic Stanley Hotel where we had a wonderful dinner and returned the next day for a complete tour … enough to prompt me to again read Stephen King’s book “The Shining”.

Finally, and pictures will come in the next few weeks, I am heading back to Colorado with three of my hiking buddies. To be continued then.