Winter is approaching quickly here in the Pacific Northwest; long sunny days are being replaced by short, gray and rainy days. After a few days of rain, the clouds cleared out and I was able to see that Mt. Hood had received a healthy dose of snow, the snow level dropping every day.
In all likelihood, this was going to be the last sunny day for quite some time, so we got our bike gear on and headed out to the local trail for what would probably be the last ride on mostly dry trails for several months. Heading up into the hills, we could see that Mt. Hood, which we had been able to see earlier in the morning, was already shrouded in clouds from the next storm front coming our way
Riding up Old Dalles Road, the autumn colors were still on display, maybe until the next rainstorm, then the leaves will be on the ground and the trees will be bare.
At the top of the local foothills, the trails were still in really good shape. It’s been a long, dry summer; the few days of rain had been absorbed by the dry, dusty ground
You could look out over the Columbia River Gorge in the late autumn sun with storm clouds slowly gathering in the distance
We rode all the trails we could, knowing this was most likely the last nice day of the season. The trails in the sun were in pretty good shape, the trails in the woods were covered with fallen pine needles and there were a few muddy spots and puddles, starting to get a little slippery.
As we rode on, the sun started setting, the shadows were getting longer and the forest getting darker. It was time to head home.
It’s been raining ever since and it will most likely continue until July. We might get a ride in here or there, but it’s time to face the fact that winter is here. Time to take care of all the indoor work I’ve been putting off all summer; update the watermanatwork.com website and edit a ton of photos and a lot of video. I’ll be posting lots of new material, as well as a few winter activities, so stay tuned….