Falling into line

Hey - it's fall! Doesn't feel much like it though. It's been upper 70s and 80s and dry for weeks now. More on the dry in a moment. Even though the weather feels like summer, the trees know better. And the color change is going on in earnest right now all over the Rockies. So I decided to hit Pole Mountain again.

After my struggle with mud and mosquitoes and such back in July, I hadn't been back. But the long dry spell has changed everything. The mud and the bugs were gone, and the colors were out!

Ordinary scenery along one of the many hiking trails.

Perhaps better personal hygiene might solve this problem. Someone put these signs up recently, not sure why. I went left!

The aspens are turning, along one of my favorite (and usually muddiest) trails out here.

Remember that dry I mentioned? In the distance you can see smoke from the wildfires down west of Loveland, Colorado in this picture.

And not to be outdone, some distance to the north of where I was hiking today, a wildfire broke out. It was under control within a day or two, no major damage. But everything all over the region is dangerously dry from a month and a half of hot dry weather with no rain at all.