Bear Creek Lake Park: October 2012

Gusty winds Tuesday night and Wednesday meant that opportunities to shoot foliage were quickly winding down.  Or more appropriately, blowing away.  So I made what I thought would be a quick morning trip to Bear Creek Lake Park and headed down the Owl Trail, camera in hand.

A lot of golden leaves still remained attached, presumably because the trees right along the creek were less impacted by this summer's drought.

The relatively early hour meant a nice low sun, resulting in rich colors and striking silhouettes.

I used to mountain bike here pretty regularly, but that doesn't provide the same opportunity to really drink in the beauty of a place.  And even being right on the edge of suburbia, this place is definitely beautiful.

The gusty winds weren't as much of an issue as I thought they might be.  They did help add a nice layer of fresh leaf litter to the trail, but fortunately didn't blow any trees over on me.

I'm always struck by the texture of these burst seed pods.  I still don't know exactly what plant they're from, but fortunately that knowledge isn't necessary to think they look cool.

From this angle, these dead stalks looked like trees from a Dr. Seuss story.

I didn't really understand what beaver working on this tree was going to do with the trunk when he was done.  So I read some stuff about beavers and learned that they'll cut down trees to get to the more tender shoots, leaves and bark near the top of them.  Hurrah for research!

I ended up spending nearly three hours meandering around the woodlands along Bear Creek.  Saw a couple of owls on the aptly named Owl Trail, but didn't manage to get any shots of them.  Best of all, the park is only a 12-minute drive from my house.  This is the part of the post where I mention yet again how great it is to live in Colorado! :)