The noise of the summer crowds has faded into silence in the hazy valleys; picnic tables stand deserted in fallen leaves; and the distant peaks, already sleeping softly under early snows, are framed by scarlet branches. 2) The high alpine meadows of Cascade and Coast ranges, studded with jewel-clear lakes, are splashed with red and gold from mid-September until well into October, when huckleberry and mountain ash are turning. 3) At lower elevations, big leaf maple and dogwood gradually add their yellows and gold to the scene; and along meandering streams deep in the woods,
shafts of light strike in the yellow cottonwood trees.