The Last Day of Autumn’s Beauty

A colorful festival comes to an end

During the hikes in the last week, I captured the remaining colors of autumns’ forest. It’s very interesting if you look closer at it. Some trees don’t have any leaves left. Others have nothing but a few brown leaves in the treetops.

Then there are those trees with shining yellow trees all around. You can spot them from far. The last category of trees didn’t realize it’s autumn yet and did not start painting its leaves yet. They are still bright green.

It’s a wonderful day for a hike. We walk along the river and watch birds drinking. Then flying off again. Whenever a gust of wind blows through the alley it starts raining. Raining leaves.

The leaves are tumbling onto earth dancing in the wind. As we walk, our shoes make a cracking sound on the dried-out leaves of this year’s fall. Since a lot of trees lost already most of their leaves we can see into garden plots and private properties.

With patches of clouds in the sky, the forest creates a wonderful color contrast to this plain-colored background. The meadows shimmer in a light green starting to turn into yellow.

Crows are flying across the land looking for a feast. Now and then they sit down on the grass picking in the soil for a few remaining worms. The ground is soft. Wet from the rain on the previous days and soaked from the cold of the season.

I’m admiring the acorns at the edge of the forest. Filled with acorns and colored in yellow it attracts not only birds but also squirrels and wild boars. Not that I did see them but I know they will come as soon as it gets dark.

“Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.” — Unknown

A few bushes of various berries are fencing off the forest line. In shining red, they warn you from far away to not touch them. I won’t touch them that is obvious but I will capture them anyway.

With the next gust of wind blowing them off, they are prepared to get their seeds in the ground. Reproduction time will then be next year.

Getting deeper into the valley we spot some moss on the trees growing on the riverbank. Mushrooms made it their home and started to flourish right next to the moss.

Reaching a clearing in the forest we get a view across the hills through the naked trees. Walking between the trees feels like walking on a soft bed. Layers of leaves are covering the forest floor making it feel like a mattress.

The last days of sunshine shining through the forest roof lightening up the young fir trees. A fairytale-like look appears that makes me dream of different worlds.

Changing my perspective for the next shot I lie flat on the ground taking the moss overgrown tree trunk in focus. The hill opposite of me comes out blurry while the leaves in front are sharp and crispy.

While looking for mushrooms we can prepare for lunch we stumbled upon a family of fly agarics. Not the ones we were looking for. Their bright colors warn everyone who wants to take a bite.

Not eatable are these mushrooms yet perfect for taking pictures. No other mushroom creates this contrast on the forest floor like the fly agaric. Red with white spots on top is its characteristic.

This might have been one of the last hikes through the fall’s color festival. More and more of the brown comes out. The sky turns grey and the sun won’t stand high on the horizon.

After a day’s walk, everything has twice its usual value.” — G.M. Trevelyan

If you enjoyed this article have a look at the following stories written about nature or connect with me on Instagram or YouTube.