The Park is getting ready for winter. You can smell it in the air, you can hear it in the quiet. The meadows, once lush with snowmelt, wildflowers, insects and birds, are still, and browning. The rabbitbrush climbing the grade alongside the road is going to seed. The lake levels are low, and the summer visitors are gone, leaving campgrounds nearly empty. This time of year is sometimes referred to as shoulder season, although I’m not sure why. But it is a perfect time to take a drive through the Park and allow nature’s beauty to whisper to your spirit.