Halloween Hike

I celebrated Halloween with a hike to the Monte Cristo ghost town. Most of the hike is along an old road and isn't as scenic as a lot of the hikes I do, but there some nice views and fall scenes throughout. I didn't do any photography at the old town itself, but it was fun to explore; there were more intact buildings than I had expected to see, and I enjoyed reading the signs about the area's history.

First, my best image of the day, taken early in the morning after crossing a channel of the South Fork Sauk River. F/16.

Next, a colorful late-fall scene from farther up the valley. I originally tried this at a wider angle, with a mountain peak visible. While this peak was an obvious visual point of interest, it was so bright that the high contrast lessened the visual impact of the color contrast between the maple leaves and the distant evergreens. I ended up liking the result below a lot better. F/18.

Finally, two more images highlighting the day's late-fall scenery. I think I like the first of these two better, due to the distant waterfall. F/16 and F/14.