Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Notice the name change? I think the "Photo Friday" feature is more realistically my weekend photo feature, and I shall call it that whichever day or hour it comes out. This weekend's feature is a stunning day hike I did last fall up Granite Mountain in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The hike is just under 8 miles RT, with nearly 3700' of gain and--more to the point as far as my knees are concerned--loss. It's a popular hike, but not really for the faint of heart. In early October, it also offered some of the best fall color I saw this year.    We started from the trailhead at 8:15 in the morning, beating the crowds and warm temperatures. The climb begins almost at once, through thick conifer forests. Fog at the trailhead gave way gradually to sunshine above. Avalanche chutes are filled with vine maple and other plants turning color. Once we left the big trees, we climbed for a long way mostly among the vine maples. Halfmoon framed by vine maple leaves Eventually we ...

In keeping with the lag between when I do a trip and when I have the photos ready to share, this Friday post is late. If we're lucky, it's still Friday. Back in October, I flew back to Maine for my more or less annual visit to a good friend and the autumn color. I nailed it for fun times with friends; the color was less inspiring. We may have missed the peak by a week, but it also just wasn't a very good year for it.  The bulk of my visit was spent in a wonderful cabin on Webb Lake, near Mt. Blue State Park (we stayed there last year, too). The weather was a bit unsettled, but there was still opportunities for nice hikes, and dawn and dusk on the lake were worth it all by themselves. One of dozens of sunrise shots from the dock. One thing I like about spring and fall trips: I don't actually have to get up early to see the sunrise. Over in the State Park we found a tranquil forest and modest color.     We also found running and falling water. And we were practically dive...

Yesterday I played hooky from my writing and went for a little hike to see the fall colors. The weather gods granted us a perfect day. I picked up my brother-in-law at 7 a.m. It was barely light at that hour, as fog had settled on Seattle. I wondered if we were crazy, but figured the vine maple and other colorful vegetation would still be visible, even if we didn't get good views. After an hour's drive, we started up the Granite Peak trail at 8:20 a.m. It was chilly enough I wore a sweatshirt for at least the first 15 minutes of the hike.  Sun and mist. The first visual reward came within minutes of the start. We reached the sun and the color about the same time. The morning dew still shone on the leaves. After a couple of miles--and a couple of thousand feet of climbing--we broke out pretty much above tree line. Here, the color came from huckleberries (mountain blueberries) and other alpine shrubs. Before the final climb, we got a pleasant surprise--not just Mt. Rainier, but a...

Work slowed down over the weekend as the Ninja Librarian was checking out the fall color in Colorado and finishing an editing project for writer Lisa Frieden . But The Problem of Peggy is entering the final editing stages (we hope!), and the cover should be ready for release next week. In other book news, the price for The Ninja Librarian has dropped to 99 cents for the ebook, at Amazon or Smashwords . So get a copy and discover the world of Skunk Corners for yourself! Don't forget to take a look at Book 2, Return to Skunk Corners! And now, just for fun, a glimpse of the golden aspens in Colorado. It was just a little early for the best color, but the weather was beautiful and so were the trees.