Evergreen Mountain Revisited

It was a hot and lazy day, so we didn't do one of our marathons. Instead, we ambled up Evergreen Mountain - only our second trip there.

The day started with a bang, literally. We were stopped at a red light in Monroe, when Tim glanced into the mirror and cussed. There was a bang and the car lurched. As Tim put it when he called 911, "there's a motorcycle sandwich."

The lady in the green t-shirt hadn't noticed that we were all stopped at the red light and she hit the guy in the gray shirt and jeans, smashing him and his cycle into our car.

Luckily nobody was hurt, but it was quite exciting for a few minutes.

Eeeep, what's this I spy on the forest road leading up Evergreen Mountain? Sure enough, leaves were beginning to turn red.

It didnt seem right, since the temperature was well into the 80s F (25-30C) today, but there they were, waving their redness gaily at me.

The light lines you see in this picture are roads up the mountains on the other side of the valley.

We are on a similar road, basically a track, winding its way up and around. It can be quite tricky if you meet a car coming the other way, which we did a few times today.

Here's a different view down the valley. The hillsides are covered with a thick blanket of evergreens, and a few brave wildflowers still bloom along the edges of the road.
Only a couple of waterfalls trickled down the hills today. They provided small cool spots along the way.
We're up near the top of Evergreen Mountain now, gazing across at some peaks still spotted with snow. As usual, we have forgotten the names of these mountains.

Looking up to the top of Evergreen Mountain I see that the usually lush, green meadow appears parched and dry.

It's too hot to make the climb to the top today, so we settle for admiring it from afar.
A little butterfly lands near my shoe. I believe this one is called a Checkerspot.

And here's the traditional lunch spot picture. There was a good breeze blowing which helped to keep us cool.
The views on the way down were just as spectacular - steep hairpin turns but very little traffic.
Before we headed for home, we took a short spin along a road near Beckley Creek. There's a very pretty part where you drive under an archway of birch trees for a while.
It was a fairly short trip, but a nice one. I can almost feel summer winding down and the fall and winter approaching, so it was great to take advantage of a lovely day.
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