November on the Trails

Last Sunday was the first sunny day I'd seen in a while, so I decided to take the dog for a walk over on the VIC trails. Toby was eager to go, for it had been a while since we walked here and there were lots of new smells to investigate.

The night before we had some granular snow fall, and there was frost everywhere, but the early morning light on the still-green ferns was beautiful.

I couldn't resist this line of puffballs. Many of the puffballs have been pretty well smooshed by those using the trails, but this batch still looked pretty good.


Another canine had walked the trail before us. Fox or coyote - I didn't look closely enough to make a determination. I got a chuckle out of this set of tracks, though; it seems the critter had a bit of trouble with traction on the frosty boards. I walked carefully to avoid a similar slip.


As we neared the beaver pond, I heard quite a rushing of water. If there was any doubt before that the beavers have left, it has evaporated. The trickle from my last visit here is now a roaring breach.


The pond is nearly drained.


I was fascinated by the ice on the remaining water.

To the right of the logs, it was all feathered and rippled,

while to the left it was smooth as could be (without being glass-like). Wind or current had to be the cause.

The lower dam below the bridge had also experienced a rupture. I wonder how long it will be this time until beavers return, patch things up, and call the pond home.