Shot of the Month – November 2025

If you visit Mt. Rainier in late summer, the nearby fields and hillsides can be awash in color as mountain flowers rapidly bloom to celebrate the brief respite from the cold and snow.  Below we see a Hoary Marmot up to his eyeballs in a cacophony of assorted wildflowers at peak bloom (that he is about to eat!).

Visit in the fall, and you will find the mountain yet again awash in color of a different sort:

As you may have noted, the fall colors here are quite different than those found in the Northeastern USA.  To enjoy the autumn colors there, one must look upward toward the sky as the color is found (mostly) in the trees.

A scene from Vermont:

In the Northeast, the stunning fall colors come from a mix of trees:

1. Sugar Maples (can turn brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds)
2. Red Maples (produce intense reds)
3. Beech Trees (golden-yellow)
4. Oaks (deep reds and russets)
5. Yellow Birch (bright yellows)

These trees can dominate the landscape, creating a wondrous, colorful canopy:

But on Mt. Rainier, you tend to look down, as it is the shrubs, bushes, and subalpine plants closer to terra firma that allow the meadows to burst with color.   At some elevations, trees like the Western Larch, Cottonwoods, Willows, and Aspen can add another vertical layer of color.  In the meadows, like in my Mt. Rainier photo above, the colors come from:

1. Vine Maple (vibrant red and orange, often found along roadsides and under firs)
2. Huckleberry (these bushes create deep red carpets in the meadows)
3. Fleeceflower (bright red)
4. Arrowleaf Groundsel (bright yellow)
5. Broadleaf Arnica (subalpine plant with yellow daisy-like flowers)
6. Oregon Sunshine (yellow blooms
7. Goldenrods (small yellow flowers)
8. Sitka Mountain Ash and Wild Rhododendron (can add splashes of yellow and orange)

The hills are alive (with color)!!  Another view near Mt. Rainier:

Another view of Mt. Rainier, with the meadow aglow in the morning light:

A more subtle palette I found at this spot near Mt. Rainier:

East or West.  Up or down.  Either way, Mother Nature’s fall colors always astound.

 

Until next month…….m

 

 

Nikon Z9, Nikon 14-30mm (@30mm), f/11/ 1/15 sec, ISO 64