It's late September.

Yet there is only a hint of autumn-yellow in these mountains of the Northwest, where it's always cooler than in the valleys, and which remain virtually inaccessible once the snow comes. Not even the Native North American tribes stayed here long term in the harsher seasons.

A hint of yellow and a touch of orange.

It is in this area that I saw my first mountain lion--much more powerful and muscular than I imagined--stalking a deer.