Susan and Hap Ridgway took their annual fall jaunt through Yellowstone Park.   The colors, perhaps not quite the match of New England’s, were still spectacular. The aspens and cottonwoods produce brilliant yellows, but this grove of aspens, perhaps because of the minerals in the local soil, produce the golden reds reminiscent of the maples of New England.


Just east of Cooke City, Montana, the Clarks Fork River wanders down from Colter Pass. It offers just a hint of the huge river it becomes each spring as it travels east and north, merging with Sunlight River and Dead Indian Creek, to join the Yellowstone River. The water in the fall is clear, and the river is edged with the yellows of the changing seasons.                                                                                                            

Between Yellowstone Lake and the great falls of the Yellowstone River is a land of high plateaus. The river runs its snaky course through the high grasses and sage lands of Hayden Valley. In the fall the bison enjoy the abundance of feed probably sensing the changes and hardships that winter will bring, and the geese and ducks enjoy the river knowing they have the wings to flee the changing seasons.














The yellows of the cottonwoods and aspen frame White Mountain as summer turns to fall in Sunlight. Elk Creek and Sunlight are beautiful throughout the year, but the fall vistas are a great gift to those of us fortunate enough to remain.

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  1. elkcreekranch posted this
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