I stopped by Lithia Park in Ashland on my way south this morning. I have a specific spot that I like at a specific time. The trouble is that the sky was overcast. Normally that is exactly what I want for creek and forest pictures. But in this case I need sunlight because it reflects off the foliage into the water. Today’s overcast didn’t much matter since there was almost no color whatsoever.

My report is that this was a terrible year for fall color in Oregon. I did see some, but for the most part the color just wasn’t there. That wasn’t entirely unexpected after the dry summer and warm fall. I figured that it wouldn’t be a good year, but what was I supposed to do? Just skip the vacation? No. But even without much color I did enjoy being there. I visited some favorite places and explored quite a few new locations. I won’t return to some of those places, but I’m glad that I did get to see them.

As for weather, there were way too many sunny days for my liking. I can’t complain though. The sun usually hurts my photography, but I have to admit that it’s very nice hiking without rain gear.

I’ll finish the blog with a shot from the always gorgeous McKenzie River north of Trail Bridge Reservoir.

I stopped to pick up a piece of litter when I was hiking around Daly Lake. It was a cloth ribbon with, “You are in our hearts always” written on it. I put it in a pocket intending on throwing it away later, but I decided to keep it. I’m not sure why.