September 1/2014 - September 15/2014

Marie's first stuck with her new quad

I am scheduled to work full time during the month of September but John and I did find some time to get a ride on the new quad.  It was "break in" time so I had to drive no more than half throttle for the first little while.
We decided to do an easy trail - down to eight mile then across the beaver dam, onto Huard Lake road and back to the grid.  Sounds like a good ride!!  
It wasn't too far down eight mile trail that I found myself and my fancy new quad stuck in the mud.
Hmmm....should have taken the right side of this mud hole!!  So, my winch works well - always good to know!!

Winch time

Beverage

The Fall colours are just starting to show up and I bet they are going to be totally awesome in another few weeks.  Hopefully we are able to get back out here to see them.   Man, this working sure gets in the way of my fun!!

This is becoming a habit!

A little further down the beaver dam trail I once again found some rather nasty mud and again I required the use of my winch.  Jeez!!!

Bear track

We saw some rather large tracks in the mud and knew.....we were not alone!!   It sure makes you think twice about being out here without a gun.

At the Beaver dam

At the beaver dam, we hid under the trees while the forest Gods decided to rain upon us.  Good thing one of us brought their rainsuit!!

We decided to take an extra trail home and hit the snowmobile shelter.  It is always nice to travel this way as the trail offers a bit of everything.  We then hooked up to Eddie's Trail for the final leg home.
It was on this trail that we came across the numerous wolf prints.  It was like the pack had called a meeting and I do believe there was a good number in attendance!!   There were tons of tracks and some of them were Huge.   Once again, a reminder that we were not alone!!

Wolves gathering

Alpha male

Sun setting

As with many of our rides, it ended with a stop at the little white church for one final beverage stop and to pay our respects to those buried here at this quaint little cemetery.  It truly is a peaceful place.

Beverage at the Church

Another awesome sunset

And of course, the inevitable awesome sunset which is a perfect end to the day.

Old rail tracks into town

The old railroad right of way also gave a decent shot of the fading sunset as we headed into town.

Not many Elevators left

Not a rattler, but it's all we got

We managed to head out again on the 15th of September in the Sami.   I have worked a ton  and now it is time for a bit of R&R.
The Garter Snakes are making their presence know by crawling out onto the road to warm up.  It is getting chilly now and I am sure they are feeling a bit chilled.   Snakes on the road and sidewalks will be quite common now for a few weeks.  They will then go find a place to curl up for the winter.

Trees are just turning

The Fall Colours are really starting to show themselves now and the drive is really quite pretty.  There are still lots of leaves left to turn but another few chilly nights will work their magic.

We headed out towards Bear Lake and found it to be a nice ride today.   Hogan enjoyed the run along the trail and took the plunge into the water.  He is quite the goof.

reflection on Bear Lake

Utah Lake

From Bear Lake we headed down the road to check out Utah Lake.  It too is a quaint little lake filled with Northern Pike and one of Dave's favourite places to fish.  Although the fish here are generally smaller, they are tasty none the less.    Hogan jumped into this lake as well.  He just can't resist getting into the water and chasing the always present "stick".

Lily pads at Utah Lake

Hogan getting his exercise

As all trails rides go, this one had to come to an end.  We spent some awesome time in the forest and I don't think we will ever get tired of these trails.   Each day shows us something different.
John started a fire tonight (something we have not done in some time) and we sat around enjoying it and the heat it was throwing our way.  I must say, the fenced in firespot is ideal for these chilly evening.  Life is Good.