I decided to check out the fall color along Horton Creek today since the peaks are past prime and West Fork would be a zoo on a Saturday, although it is in full color now. On the drive down I saw a group of 6 mule deer does and fawns feeding in a meadow. Nice.

I arrived at the trailhead at about 9:00, parking along the road. The pay lot wasn't full yet and the traffic was light up the trail to the water. The fires that closed the trail a couple months ago burned down to the trail--as you go up the trail, the left (east?) side was burned for a mile or more. The grass has come back and it looks like the fire was beneficial in clearing out the brush.

Sorry about the guestimates of mileage. (My gps isn't reliable--the elevation at Inner Basin was off by 1700 feet!) I usually stay on the trail for a little more than a mile, then head for the water. The poison ivy is red and yellow, the birch leaves are yellow and falling, and some of the maples are bright red. The waterfalls were gorgeous, as usual. By 1:00 the light was too strong for good photos, so I headed out.