Tamaracks in the Fall, British Columbia

Fall colors are unquestionably more dramatic in the eastern parts of North America than in the west.  But we do have some interesting fall colors in the west.

My favorite time of fall is when the tamaracks (larches) change color and the hills are a mosaic of green and yellow. Tamaracks are a type of pine tree whose needles turn yellow before they fall off every year.  The change usually happens in October and by November the trees are bare and the needle-cluttered ground around them looking uncannily like there's sawdust everywhere.

These photos were taken in southern British Columbia and in the Idaho panhandle.