Late Fall

It's late fall, where mornings come late and darkness falls early and the color out in the woods and along the roadsides, while still beautiful, is mostly that subtle golden tone that comes after the big splash of red and orange that most people think of as fall foliage. 

Monday, we got out for a late afternoon walk on the school road loop. Always so nice to get out after a long day sitting at the computer and still some nice color on view! (2.0 miles walked)

Didn't run until Wednesday morning. It was murky and foggy, damp and dark. Ran the cart paths by headlamp. Seven deer seen. (6.1 miles)

Woke up Thursday to dense fog. Almost just got back into bed... Foggy, dark mornings like this are tough; it was practically impossible to see anything except when right under the street lights. Ran over to Highland Green Road and then out and back on the lighted sidewalks, added on some additional mileage on Canam to round out the run. Weirdly warm and muggy. (6.1 miles)

Friday, I finally ran in the daylight! Headed over to Bradbury after dropping Sam at school and enjoyed some miles on the mountain side and out on the connector. Overcast and muggy, yet again, but the golds, yellows and browns were aglow out in the woods, and the BBU leaf blowing had held up reasonably well, making running a bit easier. Thanks, leaf-blowing crew! (10.0 miles)

Such a pretty tunnel through the yellows and golds 🍂

Saturday was Youth Hunting Day so it was a road run day! Headed out around 7:15 am. Heavy cloud cover meant it didn't quite seem light out but at least I didn't need my headlamp. (8.0 miles)

Ryan headed down to MA after I returned to help his parents with a few end of the season chores, as his dad's back is pretty bad right now and they needed some assistance getting the deck furniture away, etc. We talked at length about all three of us making a visit, but school and swim both are requiring notification of the kids going out of state, so in the end we decided it was best for us to stay home and for Ryan to go solo. So later in the morning after doing some house chores myself, Sam and I headed down to Harpswell. Low tide was around noon, so my parents joined us for a walk out to Pott's Point. Going to the beach in the off-season is so peaceful. Only one other pair out enjoying the views. The grasses lent an autumnal tone to things, but there were still some purple aster blooming. Lovely. (1.3 miles walked)

Jump!

😍

Out around 7:30 this morning. A nice, relaxed run out on the powerlines and Gone Fishing mountain bike trails. Pretty light, frosted grasses and quiet trails on a cool, crisp, clear morning. (10.4 miles)

Later in the morning, after Sam and I got the dough for soft pretzels set and rising, we headed out to Bath for a walk. When I googled 'Bath hiking trails,' a new spot showed up on the list so I checked it out online and decided why not. Turns out Butler Head Preserve is a really lovely spot that I had never heard of before nor even knew existed! The trails meander along the edge of a piece of land jutting out into Merrymeeting Bay - really beautiful, with some long water views, interesting beech groves, meandering singletrack and old woods roads. The wind was whipping across the water and it was quite chilly, but the sun was shining and we really enjoyed our walk! So fun to find new places to explore! (2.6 miles walked)

Great fungi!

Pretty poplar leaves

Very feisty garter snake!

💖 (photo by Ryan)

By the time we finished our walk, it was almost 1:00 so we stopped at Fielder's Choice for an ice cream lunch! Yum! 😋🍨

Later in the afternoon, Sam and I finished up the pretzels, which turned out looking great and tasted delicious! Yes, not exactly nutritionally solid for our mid-day eating, but we'll make up for it with some good veggies at dinner tonight 😏