Hunting the Autumn palette

Late October is still a little early for the display of fall colors, the hillsides around my village are just beginning to show a little color, but I figured at higher elevations it should be a little more advanced, so we headed into the Chugoku Mountains to Taishaku Gorge in the NE of Hiroshima.

Sure enough, the Gingko had already started to turn as at the local Tojo Shrine.

At Eimyoji temple the maple had begun its transformation...

In the upper gorge at Onbashi, the largest natural bridge in Japan, the palette was well on the way.....

Wider vistas of color were on view at Shinryu Lake, the resevoir created when the gorge was dammed.....

In the next few days I will be heading back to even higher elevation in the Beech forests around Hibayama, the home of the Hibagon, Japans version of the Yeti and Sasquatsch. I will be sleeping out on the mountain, so if this ends up being my last post you will know what has happened to me......