How odd that the lowly bracken can look so beautiful this late into fall. The ferns have died back from green to a normally dull brown. They still hold their summer shape but soon their leaves will dissolve until just their stalks arc above the forest floor. In the old growth forest, this morning’s low angle sun brings out their hidden oranges and yellows. On exposed meadows, where the bracken had been forced down by frost, they look like over baked chocolate cakes dusted with powder sugar.