Northern Apex

This photo was taken September 17th at Mirror Lake along the Sterling Highway - this is typical fall color in Alaska, at least where the deciduous trees dominate the landscape. The golden yellows can be really pretty when they are interspersed with evergreens but it all pales in comparison with New England in the fall! Just one more week and I'll be in Maine loving every minute of it.

I have a funny story about Mirror Lake. About 10 or 12 years ago, my Dad was standing by the side of the road about where this photo was taken filming the scene with a camcorder. The lake was completely still, reflecting a perfect image of the opposite hillside. We were stretching our legs on the way down to do some salmon fishing and it was still early in the day. Reviewing the footage later, you see these concentric circles spreading from the shoreline off to my Dad's left, and you can hear me snicker as I paid my ultimate complement to the scene before me. Fading to black you hear the zipper . . . .

The one place that does rival the fall colors is the arctic tundra where the whole kaleidoscope of color is played out on a miniature scale. I'll post some pictures some time taken in Denali National Park in September to show the enormous palette possible from nature's paintbrush in the far north.