Double Tramps

or, 2 hikes, 1 day.

Last ones for a while too.

Why? Well, due to the work and family changes this year, I'm relocating back north to Dakota country.

I usually like to go for hikes to a couple spots in the fall, getting some nice fall color photos. But this year I'm leaving in August. Won't be here for the fall colors. So I did a twofer - went to my two most favorite hiking areas in one day. Did some quick hiking and photo shooting to see them one last time.

Since it's August, everything is green. But hey, that's ok too. Was a pretty warm day overall, even though it was somewhat cloudy.

A shot from the top of a high rock I like to climb up on. Gives a nice view of the area. I'm probably 75 feet or so above the ground level. Nice, as long as its not too windy!

A rock spire and lots of trees along the trail. There were a lot of people out hiking on the loop trail today. Pretty green, but the little creek with waterfall was almost bone dry. Odd, as its been a pretty wet year.

Finished up here, moved on to my second hiking spot-

A final big 5 shot panorama. From the 'scenic overlook'. You can see the interstate and traffic in the distance on the center right. Was pretty breezy up here, but the clouds were breaking up at least.

What's that? A rock cairn I started building in a secret spot, years ago. Every year I go back, and rebuild it. Usually its a collapsed pile of rocks. I'm not sure if the weather is doing it, wildlife or somebody coming along and knocking it down. This year it was completely in pieces. Though a few times in the past it was pretty good. And once it was nearly intact! But I rebuilt it for what is likely the last time, for a long time. Someday I'll get back to check on it. And rebuild it again!

Can't fence in that wide open sky...

Done hiking, time to head out. Not nearly as many people hiking at this trail today. 

Nice to get one last visit in. Was hoping maybe one more moose sighting, but wasn't to be. Too bad I can't see the fall colors this year. But perhaps I'll get some for a post from the north country.

Coming up soon - the big white and orange truck...

Up In Smoke

Maybe Cheech and Chong were in the area. More on that in a bit.

Got out for my hike. Weather had been cool, but got nicer today. But it hasn't rained, and the wind was blowing directly from the direction of the fires. So expected some smoke.

Got started, wasn't bad at all. But could see some very thick smoke obscuring horizon to the west. Situation the same as last week - dull muted greens and yellows, with many leaves already gone.

Did find a few colors here and there. This orange-ish tree was about the best I could find all day.

A nice little sort of lean-to shelter of tree branches built by someone over time.

Another three shot pano of a pond. Just like last week.

A pair of deer. Saw two different small groups of deer today. No mooses, elks or other critters unfortunately. Sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't.

As the day went on, the wind changed more to the wrong direction. Though it was harder to see when you're down in the trees, when you come out on a high spot wow was it getting smoky!

Sky a mix of some clouds and a lot of fire smoke. The farther away you could see, the more yellowish and lost in the smoke everything became. And it was really smelling like a campfire.

The sun turned orange/red depending on how much smoke there was. By late afternoon, it was almost orange light. Felt like maybe I was walking on Mars! Perhaps the sky was colorful to make up for the lack of color on the ground? Headed home and washed the smoke out!

Ablaze

Because of the fall colors!

Or not.

This fall has been weird. Its stayed VERY warm and dry. Maybe that's why the fall colors are very disappointing. At least to me. Went out hiking at one of my favorite spots to capture some color. But most of it escaped!

Lots of trees are still green. But its a kind of a dull, fading green. That seems to be turning gray. The trees that are yellow are mostly a very dull yellow. Hardly any bright fall colors anywhere. Just lots of muted colors and green-ish leaves. And other spots where all the leaves are down already. Color me unimpressed! But, lets try to salvage something anyway.

Probably one of my more picturesque shots of the day. A three shot pano of a beaver pond. Not my first choice for areas, but one of the more colorful areas I could find. Looks pretty good. Also, one of the few areas with any standing water. Many of the little marshy ponds here are totally dried up cracked mud.

Lots of rock features here. Lots of people climb those rocks. I just admire them. Picture was just ordinary, but I added an oil paint effect to make it a little different. I think it helped.

Last shot for this post. Just a collection of clouds cruising along the sky. Temps were upper 70s. Pretty nice for late September. On the right of the photo, the haziness is from smoke. There are some forest fires burning farther west and south of here, and smoke was just on the edge of where I was.

Planning to hike next week in my other favorite spot. Check for colors (not expecting much) and hoping there isn't much smoke. Guess we'll know in a week...

Head For The Hills

Just cause I'm going out for a hike. Nothing else.

Yet...

Anyway, after a seemingly endless cold and wet spring, we finally got some drier, warmer weather. It only comes in spurts. We get a couple nice days, followed by a week of cold and rain. Some spring this year.

Visited the nearby State Park again for a free visit 'kids' day. Free is always fine by this kid! There were a fair number of people about, but attendance seemed definitely lower than past years. But I never saw much promotion for it this year. Saw a Giant sponsored mountain bike trial ride trailer at the main trail head. And it looked pretty much deserted. Huh.

On to a few photos!

Big rock face. Looks Grumpy. But its actually called the Chameleon I believe.

A frozen shot of a small water feature along the stream. Looked kinda nice on the warm day. But the water is actually very cold. And a little too fast moving right there anyway. People were kayaking and canoeing a little ways farther along where it begins turning into the reservoir.

A neat little crown or halo of some yellow flowers along a trail. I was expecting more wildflowers since it had been so wet, but maybe it was a little early since it just warmed up. Bugs weren't a problem either. Always a plus.

That's all for this hike. Coming soon - some NEW (to me) camera tech! 

That's More Like It!

A week later, and I'm out hiking again. Gotta get those fall colors while they are here.

After last weekend's cold and foggy day, this weekend was much improved. It was still a bit cool, and a little breezy. But mostly clear, with some interesting clouds and overall just a great day for a hike.

See, that's what I mean! Now that's what you expect to see. Fall colors were overall a little better than last week. Though inconsistency still was about. Just one of those kind of years I guess.

This tree kinda sorta looks like a woodpecker. That's what I'm thinking, anyway.

Pine needles. But not fall colors. Just another pine slowly dying due to the Pine Beetle. That's still going on. Though it seems to have slowed. I hope it ends. There's too many dead pine trees, and I'd really like to see the remaining ones survive.

My favorite shot of the day. It's a 3 shot panorama. The colors on the ground and the contrasty layers of clouds in the sky really looked great. Probably my favorite shot of the whole season!

Late in the hike, headed out. A couple big old dead trees against the fall colors and the sky. At least I didn't get rained on today. I was even warm for a while! Unfortunately, I barely saw any wildlife. No deer, moose, hardly even any squirrels or chipmunks. Can't win 'em all. People and dogs were about it. Still a great days hike though. 

Something In The Air

Fog, that's what in the air. Lots of it!

Out for a Fall hike, and the weather turned out to be kinda iffy. It was very foggy with low clouds, threatening rain later in the day. Temps were in the 50s, a little breeze. So it was chilly. Instead of wearing light clothes and trying to stay cool, I was wearing layers and trying to stay warm!

The fog made for some interesting conditions to be sure. The fall colors were decent but very scattered. Some spots were still very green, some were about at peak color, a few areas looked past peak and leaves were down. Inconsistency! But the combo of the fog and the fall colors still looked pretty nice.

The day started off pretty foggy, then it tried to clear for a while. Mid afternoon the fog and clouds came rolling back in DARK. YOu could see it coming. It's 'The Mist!' I could tell it was about to rain, and it started sprinkling about 15 minutes before I got to the car. Good thing I was wearing my rain jacket. Within minutes of getting to the car it started raining pretty hard. And it hailed a little too. I timed that just right! Came home, took a hot shower!

What a difference

a few weeks makes.

After a surprise late spring snowstorm, spring/summer returned in a hurry. No surprise really.

So I took off for a early summer hike. Back to a nearby state park. Nice and green, not too hot and not many bugs. Pretty agreeable all around! Snapped an assortment of photos, here's just a couple.

A old dead tree. After I photoshopped it a bit, it's a ghost tree!

Wild Turkey! In this case, the actual bird, not the whiskey.

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!

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!

Something Old, Something New

Summer is finally arriving. Though the cold and wet and windy has hung on amazingly well. It appears the warm weather has finally made it!

Which means - time for a hike. As for something old - I went back to the State Park I've hiked many times, usually once a year. Something new - I hiked a long different trail I've never been on. I thought this trail was unfinished in the past so I avoided it. Not sure, but it's a loooong loop now that went around a second reservoir at the park, then back to where I started.

I started at the north reservoir. This is the face of the old dam from near the bottom. Built from 1902-1904. But still doing its job. Time to hit the trail and head south...

A separate spillway from the dam. Running a bit of water, made for a pretty good current in the stream that leads to the second reservoir.

Lots of terrain changes along this trail. Trees and greenery near the stream, lots of rocks, cactus, etc especially farther away. Some areas were pretty flat, some quite steep and rocky with slippery small gravelly rock on the trail. The weather was nice - low to mid 70s for temps, light breezes, mostly cloudless. Though by the end of the day all the sun was making me feel a bit like a baked potato. Even with a hat and sunscreen.

The trail ended being a LOT longer than I expected from looking at  the map. Lots of turns and switchbacks. Plus I took the longest routes possible when there were shortcuts. Just to see more. Which my legs were rather unhappy about by the end of the day. Here's a relatively flat spot, with the second reservoir becoming visible in the distance.

This was along the most difficult part of the trail. Very rocky, steep up and down, winding around with loose footing. And no shade. By this point I was getting tired, so I kind of slowed down going through this area. Fortunately, at the end of this section I crossed the reservoir, and the return trip was a much easier trail.

The trail back was mostly pretty flat and featureless. Though there was this interesting rock formation along the way.

All in all a good hike. Worth a second pass. Maybe I'll hike it from the other direction someday!