Looking for fall

Today I rode up to Goumaz and back, checking out the fall colors that are starting to show up along the way. I love this first view and I have many pictures I've taken over the last several years of it in spring, summer and fall. No winter shots yet since I keep talking about getting into cross country skiing but never doing it... maybe this year. Today there was a play of shadows being cast by the clouds that gave it a slightly different look... at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Going down below Devil's Corral to where Cheeny Creek comes into the canyon the colors are getting nice but the sun wasn't cooperating. I took pictures anyway, what the hell, it's digital.

Today was the last day I'm going to get up there for a while and it's all good. Tomorrow I have to do a little shopping and pack for my trip to Lodi with Karen, which I am vewy, vewy excited about, I must say.

See the road?

Me either... Yesterday I took a ride up Rogers Canyon and down Squaw canyon. I was looking for quail, didn't see any, but I did get to some places I've never been. This first picture is one of them. I was following a road and it just turned to this. Not quite what I would call high adventure, but it still made things interesting.

Today I wanted to climb Squaw Peak, so I did. This picture is from the Jenkins Sheep Camp area looking back to the peak. You can see it's nice and pointy but it was an interesting climb. Toward the top it was really rocky and you had to stay on top of the boulders because the brush between them was too thick. Long pants might have been nice.


The monument at the top is labled Queen and I'm not sure why, the maps call this Squaw Peak. The elevation according to my map is 6506 ft. The views from up there were pretty nice looking into Squaw Valley and it was a warm day and nice and breezy at the top to cool off after getting there.

A funny thing I noticed at the top. Someone had chopped quite a few of the large Mountain Mahogony trees off many years ago. I thought at first maybe a lightning fire but I couldn't find any char or evidence of a burn. Like I said this had been done quite a long time ago, I'd guess at over 50 years.

I got an email from Karen this morning just before I left saying to have a great day so it was truely a great day and a 28 mile ride... ya gotta love it! 5-3-6

The great escape

Yeah, I escaped to the woods today to recharge my batteries, ride my bike and maybe shoot a quail or two. It was a glorious day, sunny and warm and I even found some quail to chase around. The aspens are starting to get colorful and I always love to see the variations of colors they get in the fall. I stood there watching the wind blowing the leaves, causing them to quake and it was a great thing to do. Ya gotta love the little things in life, and this was one of them. I had a little snack on some ripe currants I found, they were nice and sweet.


My little ride today was only 12 miles but there were some pretty good hills on this one and it felt good to get the muscles working. It's funny that when I first started riding my bike the hills were killing me. Sometimes I would have to stop and walk my bike up them until it leveled out a little. Now days I don't dislike the climb, in fact I enjoy the feeling of working my legs like that and I rarely have to walk my bike anymore.


The road I took today is one that I used to drive my family on going up to Antelope Lake. This road has been closed for some time but they didn't rip it and it's a very pleasant ride. It's a little grown over in places but the cows have kept a trail open through the brush. I kept thinking how I used to drive a Chevy Vega on this road...

I'll be leaving town soon and this will be the last time I get to ride up here for a while. But it's all good, I'm going to go help Karen with some stuff and of course I spent most of the day thinking about her. I just can't get that lady off my mind... but then I'm really not trying, go figure.

Goatheads

Man... took off on my bike after running around this morning doing errands, getting ready to leave town for a while. I didn't get too far before I accidently ran over a goathead vine. Those things are at their worst right now. The vines are all over the place, it's been dry so the heads are all prickly and stick like glue to everything.

I am always on the lookout for them this time of year but today I had a weak moment I guess, I didn't see it until my tires were full of those things. The first one I pulled out oozed slime so I knew it had gotten through. I have extra thick tubes with slime in them and that usually stops those things but when the green slime comes out the hole to the outside of the tire, that's not good. Needless to say I came right home and patched it before leaving again to ride the Canyon Trail up in Susanville Ranch Park.

Quail hunting on bicycle

Chris came over today and we strapped our shotguns on our bikes and had a nice easy ride. OK, so we were walking part of the time, but it was an easy walk. Well, there wasn't a trail some of the time except for cow trails, but they were easy trails. Did we see any quail? Well, not exactly. OK, we did see some quail but we saw them driving back along the paved road. We did chase those around a little and I managed to knock 2 of them down with one shot. We ate them with dinner and they were pretty good and neither one of us bit into any shot. Ya gotta love that!

I probably made Chris tired of hearing about Karen today. When we weren't talking about something else, she was the only thing I could think about. I'm hoping to be able to help her out with a project she has to do coming up soon and that's a really good thing since I get to see her again. I have the next few weeks fairly free so time to make myself useful.

Last 4 days...

I have spent the last 4 days with this pretty lady. Karen is an old friend and the object of my recent days of bike riding lost deep in thought. We haven't seen each other in 20 years so it was a reunion for us.

This is just the absolute biggest thing that has happened to me in a very long time. In fact maybe forever, I can't remember a thing that has happened to me that has had this much of an impact on my life.

It's quite interesting the twists and turns that life takes you on and when something happens like this that you never in your wildest imagination ever saw coming, well, it's just very, very big for me. I can't wait to see her again but she lives in another state so that will have to wait a while. I have a feeling I am not going to be able to go too long before I make that happen.

Feelin' a little punky...

Lately I have been feeling a little empty for some reason. So of course, bike riding somewhere pretty always feels good and Eagle Lake is close by and makes a great place to go so I did. It was a beautiful day and I rode from over near the CDF fire station all the way to Eagle's Nest and back. The paved trail is such a nice one to take and I had it all to myself. It was nice that I didn't see anyone since I was deep in thought most of the time and didn't need any distractions. Ridin' and thinkin', a great place to ponder.

Anyway, the lake is low and it looked to be about a foot lower than it was last year about this time. Since this is a natural lake and the level is not regulated in any way, the effects of the extended dry season this year are apparent. I remember some years ago when the lake levels were so high that the road along the north east side, Highway 139, was very close to the water. They were even talking about moving the highway up on the rim rock, but that never happened. The bottom picture is looking across Gallatin Beach toward the Jetty and Marina. There is an osprey nest at the top of one of those trees in the foreground, but it really wasn't the focus of this picture. Yada Yada Yada...