October has arrived with dark skies and rain. Autumn is firmly here now and summer feels long gone. The woods are slowly changing colour, the birches with swathes of yellowing leaves, the rowans red and orange. So far the changes are subtle and the colours mostly faded and understated. How they will turn is always something I await with keen anticipation. Will this year be one of great sweeps of brilliant colour or one of a slow washing away of summer’s greenness? Will the autumn gales strip the leaves before their full potential glory appears? Some years the gold of the birches dominates, in others the red of the rowan. Then there are the wild cherries, just beginning to show red hints, and the aspen, last to come into leaf in the spring and still green as if summer still reigns. The larches too show little sign of the changes to come. On open slopes the bracken is brown and golden and beginning to die back, creating easy walking instead of a thrash through the dense high ferns. The woods are quiet. Little stirs. Even the pheasants choose to run and hide in the undergrowth at my approach rather than explode noisily into the air. A flock of tits – another sign of autumn – piped shrilly as they explored a birch grove then were gone. A lone buzzard flapped lazily from its watch post on a tall pine and sailed effortlessly over the glen. Leaves, blown down in recent gales, carpet the paths and the only sound is the gentle swish as my shoes brush through them. There is a feeling of expectation, a hush before winter arrives. But the next gales are forecast to arrive soon.Photo info: Rowan colours. Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55 IS@55mm, 1/20 @ f5.6, ISO 400, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.4.
Nicely written, Chris.
ReplyDeleteI'm finishing packing, and about to leave for a few days camping in the Cairngorms. Going by the 'interesting' weather forecast for this weekend, i think most of my walking will be in the forest. As you say, it's like the forest is waiting for winter to arrive.
Mike fae Dundee
Aaaaaaaaah, finally fall is here again. It's my favorite time of year to such an extend that I usually can't wait for summer to end and take the hiking shoes for a spin again in fall. I did two weekends ago in the wonderful German Eiffel, but fall hadn't set in enough yet. I might pop into the German hills again next week, who knows.... I wish Scotland was a bit closer though. Fall colors, a bothy, a fire and a dram.... heaven!
ReplyDeleteMichiel
Very nicely put Chris. Autumn here was a two week period squeezed between the long summer of rain and the bitter winter winds which have arrived. Just this morning I helped the old lady over the street put her winter tyres on her car. Snow has already fallen a couple of hours drive north of here and the ski resorts are advertising opening weekend already.
ReplyDeleteMike, good luck! With 100mph winds forecast I'd stay in the forest too.
ReplyDeleteHoldfast, snow has fallen on the summits here too (reportedly - I haven't seen it myself) but I don't think any ski resorts will be opening for a while.
I would say the forecasted 100mph winds were pretty accurate Chris! I had to crawl the last few 100 metres to the summit of Bynack More (as the wind was a westerly, i had hoped it would be more shelterd. It wasn't! :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my walking companions was flipped over twice, and the other, a slightly built girl, couldn't reach the summit. Every time she broke from cover, she went airborne!
'Interesting' indeed! :)
There was a light dusting of snow in the Northern corries on Friday, and looking over towards the Ben Alder area tody i could see lying snow high up.
Mike fae Dundee
Mike, the Cairngorm Weather Station recorded a gust of 105mph at 12.48 yesterday. You did well to get to the summit. Today there is snow well down on Bynack More. As the Weather Station is recording sub zero temperatures it won't be melting. The mountains are appearing and disappearing in squalls that are probably bringing more snow.
ReplyDelete