A Symphony of Aspens

 I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to hike a lot this autumn, and the brilliant quaking aspens have been breathtaking. This tree, the most widespread in North America, has a magical quality about it that makes me feel like a smiling kid. The scientific name is Populus tremuloides, roughly translated as trembling aspen. The flattened petiole (the portion that attaches the leaf to the twig) allows the leaves to move quite freely, making a wonderful sound as wind passes through the tree. I could listen to the dancing leaves all day.

 Aspens usually turn yellow, but sometimes they turn orange or red. Most aspens don't grow by seed, but rather by a root system that sends new shoots up close by. These shoots are actually clones, and each group of clones turns color at the same time. In the fall, you can sometimes spot the different clones just by the color changes. Those clones can get quite old--the oldest one, Pando, growing on about 100 acres in Utah, is estimated to be 80,000 years old!

  Even better than hiking in aspen is hiking in aspen with a light cover of snow on the ground!

 I really enjoy finding oddly-shaped aspen trees. I wonder what happened to them to make them grow in that manner.

 This stand is absolutely gorgeous, but really hard to photograph. A whole hillside looks like it's on fire.

 Some of the colors of aspen leaves.

 I need to camp here some day.

I think I'm ready to head back outside!

Fire Revegetation

Not far from us we had a wildfire this past summer in a sagebrush habitat. You can see some photos of the fire on my friend Jenny's blog. I was going past the other day and decided to stop and take a closer look at what's coming up a couple months after the fire.

The raven had a high vantage point as he looked out over the charred landscape. It was clear that a lot of green was making an appearance.

Bunchgrasses were coming up from the roots. Apparently the fire was fast enough that it left some of the roots intact.

The bunchgrasses were fairly extensive.

I was surprised to see the wild rose emerging. Rose comes up quickly after a fire, but the reason I was surprised was I hadn't known it was there before!

Skunkbush was also emerging in one area.

Desert Boy was happy because he found a bone, and it was slightly charred on one end.

Prickly pear had burned, but small new prickly pear pads were starting to pop out of the ground.

Fortunately I didn't see any cheatgrass. It will undoubtedly come, but it's nice that some native plants have a head start.

One other plant I saw a lot of was this heron's bill. It's sometimes considered to be a weed, but at least it's keeping the ground down!

It was really fascinating to see what's coming up, and I'll have to take a look again and look for changes.

A Colorful Hike

 The other day Jenny and I loaded up a bunch of kids and headed up to the Summit trailhead to do a short hike. Here's Isaac at the trailhead, ready to go.

 The main goal of the trip was to enjoy some of the fall colors. We've had a beautiful fall, with lots of warm days and cool nights.

 We had the kids pose at the beginning of the hike. They were all in fairly good humor except for Desert Girl, who was not at all happy. Especially when I made her walk.

 The "big" kids took turns being the tour guide and finding interesting things to show us.

 Hiking with kids always makes you see things in a different way. They showed us things I certainly wouldn't have seen without them.

 After awhile Desert Girl stopped scaring the wildlife with her crying and started enjoying being outside.

 The aspens provided a wonderful foreground for the mountain scenery. The kids didn't seem at all impressed with the scenery. They loved the fallen tree obstacles, though.

 Pinecones were a very fun item for Isaac and Desert Girl.

 We continued hiking, in search of more fun items.

 This tree stump provided a good photo opportunity.

 These two crack me up. They are always talking and showing each other stuff.

 I think they were cracking each other up, too!

 Desert Boy tried to make a bridge of pine cones on the way back. It didn't work too well, but it looked neat.

Jenny remarked about the eyes on the trees. How cool!

 Then Jenny pointed out the bulgy aspens. I had never seen them before, even though they're next to the trail. I'm not sure what causes the bulges. We only found the trees in one area.

Even with a few little temper tantrums, we achieved our goal of enjoying the fall colors. This is such a magical time of year. I hope we can go on a few more hikes and enjoy the bright hues.

A Taste of Cake

 Awhile ago, Desert Girl got to join her friend Remy for an outdoor birthday barbeque. They were happy to play with pinecones and run around.

 Food always seems to taste better when it's cooked outside! And as long as I don't have to cook it.

 We celebrated Victoria's birthday with a big cake. Look at the two little heads right next to the cake. They weren't going far from it.

 Time to eat cake!

 I'm not sure what prompted Remy's expression, but it sure is cute.

 Desert Girl really liked the pink flower icing.

 Really, really liked it!

Birthday cake makes any day a better day! Happy Birthday, Victoria!