Fall in Washington

While doing my series of posts about the Southwest, I did manage to get out one Saturday in October to hunt for autumn colors here in Washington State. As I’ve mentioned before, fall colors are not the best in the Evergreen State, but they can be found if you know where to look. Timing is also important, as they don’t last long and snow can come to the higher elevations unexpectedly anytime in October. That was the case two years ago when a few days after taking fall color shots at Mount Baker, a snowstorm hit and the area was snow-covered until spring.

This year, we headed over to Leavenworth, Washington a couple of weekends ago. I was accompanied by Tanya, her mother Maxine, and Nahla. Leavenworth was crowded, as it was the last day of their annual Octoberfest. It took us about 20 minutes to go the last 2 miles into town, and another 10 minutes to find a parking spot. But I was there for the color, not the beer and brats (though I did have beer and brats while there, how could I not?). After lunch, I left Tanya and Maxine in town and Nahla and I headed up Icicle Creek, just west of town,  into the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The color wasn’t too bad. I stopped at four or five places and got a few good shots.
After Icicle Creek, I picked up the girls and we drove up Highway 2 along the Wenatchee River as it winds through Tumwater Canyon. The color, I thought, was much better here, and I wished I had more time. However, it was already late and the sun set early this time of year. I shot until it got dark, and was quite happy with the results.The shot above is one of my favorites from the trip, shot at the very end of the day. It was shot on a tripod at ISO 200 and f11 for 30 seconds with a circular polarizer (actually it is two merged shots, one with the polarizer set for the water and the other with it set for the foliage).

It’s probably too late now to catch much color there, but come next October, you may want to try Tumwater Canyon and Icicle Creek. Just remember, if you go during Octoberfest, you may need a little extra time to get through Leavenworth.