ElCap Report 10/24/09
By Tom Evans
Yo…Still, the great weather persists, with its beautiful lighting and comfortable Fall days.  My Sugar Maple Tree has lost its color now and will soon be a barren trunk and branches.  For just one week a year this tree is the most beautiful in the entire Valley.  The rest of the year it sits unnoticed, in a grove of taller and healthier trees.   I like to think it is like a lot of people we all know.  For most of their lives they go unnoticed and unappreciated, but maybe just one time, they do or contribute something, that so enriches our lives, we suddenly see a beauty in them that out shines all the rest of us.  Sunsets and trees have a way of reminding us that our time here is very short… shorter than many of you readers really know.   There is nothing more precious than your time.  Use it wisely, for you won’t be able to buy a single second of it back.

ElCap Report 10/22/09
By Tom Evans
Yo…. It’s impossible here…. Impossible… to imagine a more beautiful fall day.  The Glory that is Fall is at its fullness, as I type these paltry, inadequate lines to try and convey the wonder, to those of you who are far away and will miss the season with us.  Days like today are the reason I come to the Valley in the Fall.  The air is pungent with the smell of fallen leaves.  It’s intoxicating, and I find myself breathing deeply to better sense the aroma of the cool, crisp air, laden with the moist sweetness of Fall.  The light is so pure it is like looking through polarized glasses.  The colors are brilliant and sharp.  The Captain is astonishing in all its detail, seen through the crystal clear air. 

ElCap Report 10/20/09
By Tom Evans
Yo… Perfect fall day after yesterdays rain and wind.  Everyone who was on the wall yesterday was going up today, with the exception of the ECT team who bailed late in the day, yesterday.  Both of the Valley’s roads, North and South Side Drives are on fire with beautiful Maples lining the roads.  Very nice.  My tree is fading fast and will be bare in just a few more days… next year my old friend, next year.  It was cold and clear this morning with temps in the low 60’s all day.  Conditions on the Captain are just right.  Do it now, or suffer the melancholy of regret all winter long!

ElCap Report 10/18/09
By Tom Evans
Yo.. Great day here but late in the afternoon the wind came up and some rather sinister clouds scudded in, low from the west.  Very quiet at the Bridge and on the Captain too.  The Fall colors continue to amaze and it seems like they have lots of life in them too… so get here!  My tree is at max power now and every leaf is a beautiful red/orange.  Sweet!!