Wintrex? Now?

It's a week (and a day) later. And I'm out for another hike. Gonna get ambitious today! Because the colors are popping. And I'm going to hit BOTH of the primary hiking spots in one day.

I had to wait till Sunday. Because on Friday night it got rather cold and rained in town. While in my hiking areas, there was Wintrex! Otherwise known as snow. Several inches of the nasty stuff! It took much of the day Saturday to warm up melt off. So off I went Sunday with warmer temps and camera at the ready. And expecting to still hit a little snow.

I wasn't disappointed.

Hitting the trails, still an inch of snow. Mostly just in shady areas now. The pathways were muddy. But the day warmed up quickly, and dried out quickly too. Then it was back to good old Fall Color Quest!

A nice little pond I've shot before. There are some bright colors, especially the trees on the left in this shot. Which I'm about to get a lot closer to!

Quite strong reds along with the orange and yellows. I didn't change the colors, that's how they looked. Not too many strong reds with the trees around here, so that was really nice to see!

Getting onto one of my favorite trails with lots of Aspens, I was glad to see I got here in time to capture some nice color before all the leaves come down.

Another spot along the same trail. The leaves were reddish-orange on these really tall Aspens. And looked great! I wish they would look like this a lot more of the year.

A panorama on my way out. I shot this area a couple weeks ago, in a prior post. This is a comparison for colors, which there certainly are more of now than then. Though in spots, the leaves are already gone!

OK, its getting later in the day, time to move on to the next location. Since I didn't have a lot of time I only visited briefly but still got a couple shots.

A silky smooth water pic, just for something different. A handheld (with the help of a large rock) time exposure. Turned out pretty well considering.

Another panorama. Best way to see more color at once. This one is made up of 4 separate photos. Probably close to a 180 degree view.

Well, late in the day, time to call it a day. Start planning next weekend. The colors are hanging around, so I'll be back to find something new again.

See ya then!

More But Different

After a week off, it was time to go out hiking again, but a different spot from last week. Wanted to give the fall colors a little more time to pop out.

And, it seems they did!

A nice shot of a large group of trees turning yellow, still somewhat greenish, framing a rocky hilltop.

A little HDR action of a marshy beaver pond. Makes the weedy masses just under the water really stand out. All murky and mysterious...

As I was hiking, somehow I got off the trail I usually take. And wound up on a different one, which among other things went past the remains of this small old cabin. It still had 4 walls, but no roof. There was a door inside, but it wasn't attached. All the log gaps were gooped up on the inside like it had been used sometime recently. Not sure. Kinda looked like someplace people would occasionally visit, maybe more in the past. There was a little garbage and assorted stuff laying about inside, amongst all the tall weeds.

See, its not all fall colors! Just liked the view of this rather large balanced rock. The left side looks a little like a face to me too. While it seems a really strong wind might knock it off, its probably more stuck there than it seems.

A nice grand vista of fall colors across the valley. Was quite a nice day, and quite colorful as well. This fall has been pretty good for colors and for them hanging around. Certainly better than last year. Get ready for next weekend, cause I'm heading out again!

Huff & Puff & Hike

Remember that mountain bike I bought last year? I've ridden it a lot on the Greenway paved path. As well as quite a bit on a off-road trails park here in town. But never in the actual mountains. Till now!

Nice warm day, went out to a favorite hiking spot. Where I have tried my other mountain bike ROB (Really Old Blue) in the past. But with no suspension, it was just to punishing for me. Now I have a full suspension bike, time to give it another go!

Here's a scenic overlook shot. Which I posted because off in the distance you can see a forest fire that just popped up today or last night. It was a bit windy, but they got the fire under control in another day or so so it didn't grow too much. That's good! All the grayish spots throughout the trees? Lots of dead pine trees. Too many.

Since it's early September, its a bit early for fall colors. This little meadow area is very green. But in a couple weeks the many tall aspens here will be in full color. That'll look great. I may come back for a hike then. Check out that bike in-situ!

Here's later in the day. This area is much less green, more dried out. But you can see a little fall color too. I saw bits of color, mostly in the smaller trees. So the colors are starting...

Here's a 3-shot panorama I took on the way out. Merged together in Photoshop. Still a lot of green (and dead trees too) without much color to see yet.

So how'd I do? Well, the bike and I both survived (other than a blister on the side of my thumb). The riding was certainly a lot better with suspension. That saved me a lot. I still had to go slow and careful in the rough/rocky/loose ground areas. Which there were plenty of. Climbs were my downfall. I just don't have the juice for long climbs on rough rocky uneven ground. I often had to get off and push the bike up many of the hills. Climbing is NOT my strong suit. Good thing I never wanted to be in the Tour de France. Or Pro mountain bike racing. Casual riding is my strong suit. Cause I'm a pretty casual guy I guess!