The west coast is not necessarily known for its eye-popping fall color. There are of course a few exceptions – if you’ve never seen a cottonwood tree turn golden yellow, backdropped by the Sierras or Rockies that have been freshly dusted with snow, all under a crisp bright blue sky…well, you need to put that on your bucket list. But overall, most trees’ leaves around here turn to a dull color and then unceremoniously drop to the ground.
That said, I have been continuously surprised by the fall color year after year in Seattle. Capital Hill seems to be the most spectacular. And this year, the color has been off-the-charts spectacular nearly everywhere. Even though the city puts on a better show than the country (the Japanese maples and ginkos in people’s yards are especially fantastic), the yellows of the big-leaf maple trees that dominate our western WA forests have been particularly bright this year.
If I had my act together sooner, I would have dedicated a day or two to touring the city with my good camera to catch all of this splendor. Instead, all I have are occasional snap-shots I’ve taken with my iPhone, mostly from being surprised at the absolute beauty while out walking or running. Because my iPhone camera is so crummy, I have boosted the color just slightly in these photos to more clearly represent what I saw. Ok, ok – I may have embellished a little bit…but really, not much.
Enjoy!
This is on my bike trail to work
Neighborhood house
Neighbor's dahlia garden
The footbridge over the park
Grape leaves growing on a garage door
One of the many Japanese maples around here
View from the new dorms on campus
In the park
One of my favorite houses in our neighborhood, made only better with this fall color!
