… Continued from Cool, wet and windy… pt. 1

The day was so beautiful I decided to drive over to the Miller Woods trail and hike the first 2/3’s of it.  Miller Woods is different from the Long Lake trail in that it is comprised of low lying wetlands in between successive ridges of forested sand.  It is one of my favorite trails in the park.

This area has an incredible diversity of plant life.  While the trees were only beginning to change color, the ground vegetation was vibrant.  A small patch of ground no more than a few feet on a side contains a full palette of colors.  Bright and bold reds, yellows and greens all set off against deeper earth tones covering a beautiful array of browns.

When the sun finally did poke through the clouds near the end of the day the visual interest turns from color to contrast.

Color is still present but now plays a secondary role to the dynamics of shadow and direct sunlight.

As a side note, a wild fire swept through this area about 6 months ago.  The land in every one of the photos in this post was burnt to a black crisp.  Walking the trail now you would never guess it had been so thoroughly burnt.