Any Colour You Like Part II

Another weekend, another hike. Got a surprise very warm day, close to 80. Nice, but it was pretty windy all day. I even managed a little sunburn. Gotta not miss the spots with the sunscreen! I was hoping for some great color. And it was - ok. The colors were actually kind of muted and dull. I wonder if the cool wet summer causes that.

So, I made fall by pumping up the colors in Photoshop some. NOW it looks more like fall!

Taking a break from a nice high vantage point. Still quite a mix - trees with no leaves, trees turning, and trees that are still green. Strange fall.

Another view from my high vantage point. Got a little more color in this shot.

Care for a swim? Not me, thanks. It's muddy marshy and shallow. Quite a few dragonflys around enjoying it though. While it lasts...

Picked up a little hitchhiker while I was hiking. Just wanted to say 'Hi' I guess.

Enjoy the fall colors while they last. Cold weather is getting closer. So it won't be long before all the leaves are gone and the most amazing time of the year (in my opinion) is gone. Then, the cold white blanket returns.

Any Colour You Like

As long as it's fallish. Because it's fall. And it's time to collect some of those fall color photos for they year, before they all fade away. Was out in the hills today, seeing how things look. In a lot of places there's a lot of yellow, but a lot is just changing or still green even. So 'peak color' is a week or two out. Supposed to be cold enough for snow in the hills in a day or two. That might speed up the color change.

A mix of yellows and greens.

No big wildlife sightings this time. Little ones like this spider. But no big ones. Too bad, since I had the big camera with me!

Don't fence me in!

More to come as more colors change for their brief but beautiful show...

Wild Wildlife

Back in my neck of the woods, and decided to go out into the woods! Both to get out in the country, and see if there are any fall colors yet. The answer is no. None at all yet. But it won't be long. While hiking an area I usually don't hike, ran into some company-

Looking back at me through the trees is a young moose. Didn't hang around to long.

Mr Moose ambled off into the trees and out of sight. Nice to occasionally run across some interesting wildlife. Wish I'd gotten better pictures. But they're usually not much for posing.
A dying pine. The colors on this are nice. But there seems to be more beetle infested pines that are dying around here. Thats not a good thing.

While hiking I also came across two deer. Got a photo of the second one. The next big wildlife sighting! More than I usually see. Otherwise, the creatures were mostly grasshoppers. Lots and lots and lots of grasshoppers. At least the mosquitoes seem to be mostly gone.

My shack in the mountains! It's in my price range. Today I didn't need the shelter, believe it or not. I went hiking, and didn't get rained on once! Not even a sprinkle! About time! Since Fall is right around the corner.

Urtle River Tate Park

I've been on vacation visiting family in NoDak. And got to spend a couple days with my brother. We both like cycling. But don't get to spend much time doing it together since we live so far apart. But for now we get together when we can. Unfortunately the weather (I think it's summer) was not very cooperative. Either overcast and very humid and raining. Or cloudy, cold and windy. We finally took off on monday to Urtle River Tate Park. That's what the sign says, so it must be true!
See? We're only 20 miles or so from my brother's place. Nice area with trails and a river, mostly through trees and parkland, some prairie spots. Not a huge park, but its nice. I'm more used to trails with rocks, pines, steeper hills and such from where I live. This is actually easier to ride for me. Lance Armstrong and those like him got nothing to fear from my cycling ability.

Even though it was a mostly cloudy and cool day, still had to keep hydrated.

I wonder what's in that bottle?

Must be Superman juice!

Got an awesome tat! How about that?

Ok, so it's really just a grease mark on my leg from the chainring. But it does look like a tatoo!

A shot of the ubercyclist wannabes. We had a great time, just wish we could do more. Thanks for putting me up and the cycling lil' bro! And check his blog, I know he'll be posting on our ride as well.

Le Tour

Lest you think I haven't been riding the bike, oh, how wrong you are. I ride it fairly frequently, though mostly just shorter rides on the bike paths around town. But it is generally not very exciting or photo-worthy.

Me showing off my mad biking skillz of....sitting on a bench! Yeah! Just out for a spin on my hot-rodded up cruiser bike.