For those of you who woke up and thought, "where the heck did Summer go so fast?!", join the club. This year more than ever, the endless plans of travel, camping, hiking and fishing that stoked the excitement of warmer weather coming out of the snowy Spring season, seemed to disappear into the turn of Fall quickly. Sunsets at 9 are turning to dark before dinner, and those warm morning walks now offer the crisp bite of an impending season change. I even heard my furnace kick on this morning to combat the brisk air flowing through the open living room window.
All of this to say, while summer brings grand, quickly fleeting expectations, Fall is the real winner in the mountains. Though minds might be still stuck on the fast-paced life of lake days and BBQs, it is worth taking a minute to take in the changes that bring what I argue is the best time in the mountains!
As I sit here over an alpine watering hole, fruitlessly hoping a bull elk graces me with his presence, I begin to notice the subtle changes already happening. The leaves of the bushes surrounding the water already show their shades of yellow. In a matter of days, this color pop will flash across the entire mountain side that is the view a mile away. The thermostat says 68, but under the shade of an old pine tree, you can feel the impending grip of approaching snow. The county seems quiet, with many of its regular visitors back to work or back to school.
All of these small changes are a good reminder of what a great place the mountains are, and how lucky many of us are to regularly visit, or even call them home. Many times we overlook these small things in our busy day to day, forgetting to take a quick look up into the aspens. It may be getting colder, but now is the perfect time to get on that bike, or hit the river for an afternoon of fishing. Or maybe, find your own old pine tree to sit and watch the landscape change. Get ready to slow life down and enjoy the small changes happening right now in the mountains!