It's Larch Madness...again.

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Have you ever seen a tree so golden in colour; so spectacular that you go back each year to see it all over again? Fall colours in the mountains are quite dramatic; oranges, red’s and yellow’s. Vibrant and amazing colors and with cooler temperatures and less bugs it makes fall a perfect time to hike.

My all-time favorite autumn hike is the Golden Larches. Their preferred location is dry, high, rocky and cold so each year I climb Frosty Mountain in Manning Park, BC Canada to see these beauties. It’s a small window to see these 2000-year-old remarkable trees. If you miss it, it will be a golden carpet below your feet and you will have to wait a whole year to see them. The climb is well worth it as their beauty is a red-carpet affair.

These Larches are conifers and part of the Pine family. The alpine Larches, found 2000 meters high in the mountain tops, are deciduous trees and each autumn they lose their needles but not before turning a bright golden colour. It’s truly a sight to see. You never know exactly when their colours will be prime. It’s usually end of September and or beginning of October. I once heard it called “Larch Madness.” During this time the trails are busy but still worth the trek.

You don’t have to travel to Canada to see them though. They are found in the Cascades and Rockies too. Some of the hikes are not tough as you can drive part of the elevation. Just get out and find your own yearly Larch hike. It’s worth every single step.
 
Lori Roberts aka Hiking for the Scaredy Cat, works in Surrey, BC Canada as an Education Assistant working with special needs students. In her spare time, she hikes & snowshoes in Whistler, Squamish, North Vancouver, Hope, Manning Park, Chilliwack and Washington and blogs her twisted trails at www.hikingforthescaredycat.com. She is also on Instagram, Twitter and FB. She has two Huskies and often takes them up the many Forest Service Roads in the lower mainland for fun adventures. “I’m really enjoying my role as an 2017/18 Ambassador for Hike Like a Woman. I’m thrilled and honored to have been one of twenty chosen out of two hundred who applied. It’s a dream come true! I look forward to the next year inspiring people to get outdoors and experience what nature has to offer. Happy & safe trails”
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” George Eliot