Electricity! That's the Ticket!

As in maybe I should get an electric assist mountain bike. I went out again, and took the MTB. Back to the same place I was hiking last week, and cycling at a month ago. Today I rode some, but not all of the trails I hiked last week.

First off, it has changed A LOT! Had some cold and very windy days this past week. Which are really good - for removing leaves from trees in the fall. And they did. Many of the bright and colorful areas a week ago are now nearly bare of leaves. I'm glad I got to see them when I did.

No wildlife sightings either. Bugger!

And I'm on the bike again. Same results as before. I can negotiate the trails (most of the time). Traverse the downhills, flats and small hills. But the big hills leave me wheezing for air. And wishing for an electric bike to drive me up the hills! It's fun, I can cover a lot more ground, but MAN does it get tiring after a while. Especially later in the day.

OK, enough whining. How about a few photos?

A small cluster of trees that still held on to its leaves. They were coming down today as I traveled around. But got a shot of the bike and the fall colors. That's got to be good for something. The color spots were a lot fewer and far between. So I got a lot fewer photos of it.

Recognize this? Look several posts back, about a month ago. Back then, there were a couple trees that were turning, and a bunch of green ones. Now, as you can see, it's pretty much all gone. How brief the season is...

Finishing off with another spot revisited. This is the third time I've shot this spot this season. Previously it was colorful, though had lost some leaves. Now its pretty much bare. Sigh. The fall color season for this year is pretty much over here. Guess it's time to find something else to take photos of! Hope you enjoyed the fall color photos at any rate.

Where the Wild Things Are...

Back for another weekend of hiking and photography. And, as it turns out, I got quite a bit more than just colorful trees today!

Just a squirrel. Nothing too special about that. Other than it was an indication of the day to come. The wildlife is about to get...bigger.

But you didn't think I'd forget about fall colors did you? Of course not! Here's a tall tree, lit up nicely with the sun shining through it. About as bright as the yellow can get!

Walked a trail I haven't been on in a while, but has lots of leafy trees. And lots of colorful spots. And this is the time of year to see them at their best. This is a 3 shot panorama, capturing some more beauty of the season. There's still tons of colorful spots, but there are more bare spots where leaves have all come down. So peak color may have just passed maybe this past week.

Now things are getting interesting. Walking along I never even noticed these deer until I was pretty close. But instead of running off they just sort of stood there looking at me. Considering it is hunting season, I figured they'd be a lot more skittish.

As interesting as the deer were, a couple hundred yards along the trail and I came upon something even more interesting...

A dark shape appeared ahead, I slowed down. And found a young moose in a little beaver pond. Another hiker with a dog was watching it also. I guess it got spooked, as it took off into the trees. But it went the way I was going. So I moved along quietly, and soon came upon -

The whole family! Two young moose (on the left being shy), Mom in the middle behind the tree, and Big Daddy behind her! Wow! That's the most moose I've ever seen out here. And I've never seen a whole family of them. They were a little ways away and watching me. But not too concerned. I watched for a little bit, snapped a few photos, then left them to their day. Pretty neat if I do say so myself!

How about a brightly colored cluster of leaves against a bright blue fall sky? I thought you'd like it!

All in all a fun day. The weather was pretty warm, the colors were still good, and the wildlife surprises were the best part of the day. Next weekend- I may go out. Depends on weather this time of year. Maybe I'll try the bike again.

Side note - yesterday was the Worldwide Photowalk event. Which I WON last year at my location (but didn't win in the main competition. I was robbed!) But there wasn't one this year in my city. So I went out on this hike instead. And considering how good the day was, I think I did better in my Photohike than any Photowalk!