Overcast and rainy. Though not constant, rainfall was heavy at times.
The forecast calls for a dropping snow level tomorrow. With persistent mountain snow at higher elevations so far this fall, I’ve been feeling a little nervous about taking care of the Harbor Mountain ibuttons.
Normally I would do this near the last of October, just before the gates for the roads are closed at the beginning of November. However, I don’t have confidence that my vehicle can handle any real snow on the road.
Despite the low clouds and rain, I decided to head up this afternoon.
Unfortunately I forgot that I had removed an adapter I needed to plug the ibutton reader into my phone until I got to the ibuttons.
I returned home and did find the adapter (though it took a while), and made the drive back up the mountain.
While I was there, I made a couple of observations for iNaturalist. Days are getting shorter, and I am finding it necessary to be a bit more deliberate about remembering to make observations to maintain my daily streak (which goes back to January).
The sun did come out briefly when I was heading back. I felt compelled to take a couple of pictures of trees and clouds. Not because the photos will be especially nice, but simply because the light was interesting to me.
On a stop at the channel, I noticed a color gradient on a mountain ash tree. One side was completely brown, the other still almost green. There was some yellow-to-green transition in between.
I’m not 100% sure, but I suspect the brown part was on the windward side of the tree for the highest winds during the big storm on the first of the month. I can’t be positive, but think the color gradient may be due in part to the wind (the brown patch, at the very least).
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
