From the Silicon to the Tanana Valley: A Return to Cooler Weather

Sunday, September 30, 2012

A Return to Cooler Weather

Great things about cooler weather:

1) What's that biting/stinging me? Oh yeah--NOTHING!

2) What am I allergic to? Oh yeah--nothing!!

3) What's for dinner? BACON!

4) Let's go for an 8-mile run! Okay!!

5) Why, hello, fuzzy dogs! I see that you are the only ones wearing dog hair! Not me, nor my clothes, nor the couch!

Yesterday, we hiked to the top of Wickersham Dome. I think this may become an annual event called Photograph the Frost in the White Mountains, and Look It's Not Windy on top of the Dome (it's almost always windy when the weather is warm). History says we did it in 2011 and 2009.

It was foggy, which is rare for this region:

The frost favored the North sides of the scrubby twigs:

and of the needles of the spruce trees:

It grew like sugar on the dead plants:

Linden sitting pretty (she thought I was digging out a treat for her when I stopped to tuck my jacket away):

Autumn looking sedate, as usual:

The fog thinned out as we approached the top of the Dome:

And suddenly we burst forth into blue sky:

There were lots of blueberries, overripe and slightly fermented. Mmmmmm:

And cranberries, which were decidedly not fermented, but super-sweet, after having experienced frost:

Looking west, over the fog:

Looking east, over the fog:

Then it started rolling up to us:

My favorite shot of the day, perhaps of the year:

Would anyone care to suggest a photography contest to enter this into? :P

I drink tea while my doggies hang out:

A lot of the frost had solidified into ice!

A frosty spider web!

Misty and frosty!

Along the trail, we spotted this crazily-placed stone:

I didn't believe it could be balanced as precariously as it appeared, so I walked around it and looked from another angle:

Still just as impressive!

It reminded me of this guy who does this in my hometown. He's quite astonishing. So I googled 'stone balancing', and apparently this is A Thing (12,700,000 hits!!). Here is a cool one in the UK.

I Love Eet!