Green Lake

Normally I hike in the mountains, but there are  walks in the city that are short, flat, and just across the street from fine resturants.  It is civilized walks with nature that are great on a afternoon when you do not have a lot of hours.  So Tom, Marily, Molly and I headed off to Green Lake to see the fall colors. There are several types of decidious trees that turn gold and loose their leaves, but look like everygreens.

There is a nice grove of Western Larches or tammaracks if you're from Montana.  The closest stand of these trees that I know of are at Ingals Lake and usually involves a ten mile round trip hike with three thousand feet of elevation gain.  If you ask Mary and Vangie, they will also say that it requires hours of hiking through deep snow.  This tree does not naturally grow below 6500 feet, so I was very surprised to see it at Green Lake.

You can see that the needles look just like a fir tree.  It only stays this color for about a week before the needles drop off.

And there are the completely normal trees that turn gold and lose their leaves

And then Green Lake itself is quite beautiful.



So if you would like to see some fall color, do not want to hike ten miles through the snow, and would like to stop at a good resturant afterwards, then head over to Green Lake. Otherwise, I'll be heading back to Ingals Lake next fall and you are welcome to join me.