Photos by Muledeer

This small lake/pond was almost completely frozen over.

I found this cute little fairy house beside the trail.

This picture pretty much sums up the fall weather. You can see the raindrops falling on the overflowing pond, the bedraggled brown fall foliage and in the corner, the edge of the trail with a big puddle.

I loved the way the ripples broke up the reflection.

Clear white mushroom poking up along the trail.

The mature trees surrounding it may once have been it's seedlings.

How many larch photos do you need? Fall color filled hike to Blue Lake

Slow hikers are lucky to sometimes see the small stuff that others miss.

I sometimes see things in rock formations, look and see if you see it too!

This butterfly held still long enough for a photo, most unusual for a butterfly. I think it is a checkerspot.

The crew at Elbow Lake pose for a group shot after their time spent improving this popular trail.

We watched this little guy/gal go back and forth across the rocks with mouthfuls of fresh green marsh marigold leaves. I waited patiently hoping to get a picture, and finally got the shot I wanted.

I finally found out what this was after sleuthing around in my plant books. Gnome plant (Hemitomes congestum), apparently a fairly rare saprophytic found in dense forests. The description fit perfectly, and we found a later stage of development down the trail aways.

Lewisia tweedyi grows on the Tumwater Canyon rocks.

This tiny blue eyed Mary was found beside my foot while I was taking another picture.

This close up of the spotted coralroot really shows that it's a member of the orchid family.

I wanted to get a nice picture of the flowers on a vine maple. When I got home and looked at my pictures, I was surprised to see the crab spider on one of the flowers! You can even see it's buggy little eyes!

The Preserve has returned to the wild, but the remnants of the old garden that used to be here still remain.

I liked this eagle sitting in a tree backed by a snowy Mt Baker,a classic winter scene.

This is so darn cute it had to post it!

This beautiful reflection was on a pond right behind the Fish and Wildlife building in Mill Creek

A quiet trail and slow hiking allows us to see wildlife that normally remains hidden. This owl was stalking a red squirrel below him.

These huge specimens were at least 6" across and probably about 8"tall! They were hard to miss. The bright orange color says October for sure.

I thought the cone on the larch was as interesting as the needles.

Goat hair and turning larch and rain.

I liked the reflection of both the island and the far shore.

The smoke from the fires caused the sun to shine red on this hike. I think the reflection of it on a very low Sauk River pretty much sums up the summer.

I liked the color along the small creek. Instead of flowers, there were mtn ash berries and turning leaves.