"Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow."~ Author Unknown

Photographed near Lockett Meadow of the Coconino National Forest's Kachina Peaks Wilderness Area. I hiked out of Lockett Meadow up the Upper Basin Trail before dawn, so as to eventually find myself here when the early morning golden light was still rich. This road, known to locals as "The Waterline Road" is only used on occasion by forest officials, when they need to come up the mountain to work on the wells that supply nearby Flagstaff with water. Because of its infrequent use, it was a real treat to find this glorious and undisturbed carpet of gold, as the early morning sun was still making nature all aglow.