First whiffs of Fall are in the air

The fireweed has bloomed to the top, and the bottoms have gone to cotton seeds:

That means it's four weeks until the first frost!

Our weekend walks are much more peaceful now--no mosquitoes, Starbuck has more energy, and I am not all sweaty. The neighborhood trail definitely looks like fall:


Across the road from the trailhead, a giant water tank waits to be buried. Since we have no water lines to our neighborhood, the fire station has to haul water to fight fires. How much more convenient and safer it will be when we have a local water tank for them!


Red dwarf dogwood berries add to the rich colors:


Shoe dye applicator plants!


Giant mooseyprint:


Look what DL spotted! A wood frog!


I had heard about them, but never seen one! Apparently, their habitat spans from the northern half of the Lower 48, through Canada, to north of the Brooks Range, and they freeze solid in wintertime and come back to life in the spring. They have glucose in their bloodstream, which prevents the ice crystals from forming needles, which would burst their cells.


Scale:

It's a tiny thing! Supposedly, they don't need to live in water, but he was sure happy to be swimmin' down a rain-filled tire track!

Alaskan wildflowers are deceptively delicate-looking, yet somehow hardy enough to survive each winter:


Rooooooo looking pretty in the grass: