The weather certainly has certainly cooled off over the past few weeks. It would seem that summer has abandoned us and fall is taking hold. Recently I headed into the mountains with a good friend in search of some fall landscapes and found all that I was looking for and more.
We headed out Friday after work, motorcycles fully loaded for a weekend of adventure and battled traffic for a few hours to get to Manning Park- a local… ish favourite with plenty of landscape and wildlife photo opportunities. We pulled into camp late, enjoyed a lovely campfire and tucked in early, excited for the day ahead. A great start to a weekend of adventure.
My goal for the trip, was to find some fall colour to photograph and to force myself to slow down a bit and focus on capturing photos of what the landscape was offering- this is hard for me.
We woke up bright and early, and headed out into the hills, gaining some elevation to in hopes of catching sunrise. With smoke still in the air from a few resilient wildfires, we were hopeful that nature would put on a show for us and it did not disappoint. We found ourselves on an exposed lookout road, as blue hour took hold of the valley. Clouds had moved in overnight were thicker than I had hoped for as we waited for the day to brighten up. I wasn’t sure if we were going to get a light show, or if we were going to get stifled by the cloud cover and smoke that had a hold on the valley. As we waited, the air began to clear and our hopes began to rise until we found ourselves in a scene that felt as though it were taken from a painting. Dark and dreary blues and greys gave way to purples, oranges and reds that took our breath away. In a span of mere minutes the sky came to life in a way that I haven’t really seen before. It was remarkable.
First light on day 1
A few minutes after sunrise on day 1
After an hour or so of an incredible light show it was time to head back to camp, pack up and hit the road for a full day of exploring the hills between Princeton and Merritt. As we wound our way through the corridor of the Crowsnest Highway toward Princeton, it became evident that we had chosen the perfect weekend to see autumn in its full splendor. Red, yellows, oranges and browns greeted us around every corner with more intensity the further we went. The forest was on ablaze with the colours of the fall and we had a front row seat.
After a quick stop in Princeton for a bite to eat we headed north past Tulameen and Otter lake into the hills outside of Merritt. Earlier in the day, it would have been hard to imagine nature’s fall colour palette getting any more vibrant, but that is exactly what it did. Stunning yellows, vibrant oranges and magnificent reds became the norm as we gained elevation and headed north.
After a bit of exploring, we found a spot to camp for the night, set up camp and then headed into Merritt for some dinner to go. A quick stop to top up the gas tanks before heading back toward camp in search of a golden hour photo location. Unfortunately, we were not treated to the same spectacular light show at sunset that we had at sunrise that morning, but no need to get greedy. We managed a few shots before heading to camp to enjoy a nice campfire.
Stunning fall colours everywhere.
The next morning arrived with a bit of a surprise… the first frost of the year! We needed to hit the road early, so we packed up camp and hit the road. A couple of quick stops to have a look at the mist on a small lake but the light wasn’t really spectacular so we didn’t get much in the way of photos. Cool to see, hard to capture with a camera.
A spectacular way to spend a weekend.
Click through the photos below to see more.
