Staunton Park hike... yes, again ;)

I know you might ask why we were hiking there just 5 days after we spent half a day walking along the trails... The answer would be simple and easy - because we liked it there. Just like that ;) So we returned back in less than a week and found a completely different place... Click here to see the first hike pictures.

 

No, the park still was the same, but the weather wasn't. And the change was huge... Instead of a bright and sunny day we had a foggy one. And it changed everything - the colors were subtle and faded. The yellow leaves weren't that bright as before and looked pale. And... there were less of them - 5 days during the fall in the mountain meant a lot!

And we capture them again - Abert Squirrels! First time we saw a couple but they were far from us... And that Sunday we also met one. Bigger than regular forest squirrels, black or dark gray they are often called tassel-eared squirrels and they are just amazing. Even though they were busy looking for some ponderosa pine cones and didn't stop to pose for us, we liked seeing them running on the forest floor... Actually not, not running, but floating so smooth and fluid their moving were. Anyway, this is only a picture I have but I would like to come here again with a goal of capturing some better images of this nice looking squirrel.

As I mentioned before, the mountains were mostly covered with fog and the aspens looked not as bright. But it still was a nice fall day and we enjoyed walking slowly from the visitor center to the Davis Ponds...

There were some thistles somewhere along the trail and I was unable not to stop for the picture. Actually it was the same flower I captured 5 days ago, but it looked different. As the aspens in the background.. Just look at the picture and see yourself, how it looked in the beginning and now...

At the ponds we captured a glance of two Bald Eagles, flying above the water (I guess it was lunch time and they were looking for some trout to have a feast on).

 

And again... everything looked mutes and a bit sad...

But... it was a Colorado after all so while we were having our lunch (nope, no trout for us humans ;) ) the weather turned a bit and the sun peeked through the clouds and brought some brightness to the aspens...

Everything looked much nicer... The green became greener and the yellow more yellow. But it also lost this mystical view and turned to the normal one. No complaints, we enjoyed both, soft morning and bright afternoon and decided to come here again soon.

Pictures were taken on October 10, 2022.