Partly cloudy, with occasional showers intermixed with sun.
After a call this morning, the weather was looking reasonable. With nothing pressing for the afternoon, I decided to take care of the Indian River ibuttons.
Ideally I would have done this at the end of September. However, my phone breaking made that much less of an option. I’m not quite sure when they filled up, but they were well past due for data collection and resetting.
Indian River was full, but running clear.
I noticed the water flowing under the first small bridge was cloudy, like someone had stirred up sand and gravel. Normally this water is tea-colored from tannins. I looked and saw some of the smaller side channels were as I expected. This made me realize I don’t know where this water course comes from. Given the look of the water, it seems likely that it flows out of someplace developed. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture until my way back. By then the cloudiness was mostly gone. I will try to remember to follow it up and see where it takes me.
Fall colors tend to be on the subtle side here. I did appreciate the yellows of the salmonberries and huckleberries in various places.
I think the last time I was up the trail may have been when I last did the ibuttons in June. Regardless, it seemed to me there was trail work that had happened since my last time here (though it’s possible I just forgot). In particular, there was new boardwalk put in.
Falls fork has shifted to cooler (~43F) than the west fork (~44F), but not by much. I suspect both were strongly influenced by the temperature of recent rains.
I made a side trip to Castle Hill both going and coming, but didn’t see any birds in the maples.
I stopped by Swan Lake before heading home. I enjoyed a few minutes watching colorful bubbles in the evening light. I would include such bubbles in my ‘whimsy’ category. Probably they’re the shortest-lived whimsy (longest almost certainly being some of the rock carvings).
Jim Green (of williwaw.com) published an interesting recap and commentary about the strong storm that ushered in October this year.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
