I Saw a Puddy Tat!

 Another simply beautiful fall day!  I'd planned to ride with Mari Jo, but she texted that she wasn't feeling the best.  Far from usual for her!  When I pulled in to the parking area by Happy Trails, she was walking across the road to meet me.  She had a bad reaction to the flu shot, lasting several days & still wasn't up to par.

Last of the golds~

I wished her a speedy recovery & left on my way south.  At the rate the trees are loosing their leaves, it won't be long at all until the look of the barren winter months will be here.

Beaver Dams~

The first creek crossing was so pretty.  The Beaver dams are still in place here & holding nice small pools of clear water.  I was moving right along & didn't stop again until reaching the trestle.

Silver Creek, lower by the week~

Today, I noticed the water level was definitely lower than on my visit last Friday.  I could easily see the silt of the bottom under the waters surface.

South side of the Hwy-34 underpass~

I can always tell within a mile or so when I'm near the underpass from the sound of the traffic.  It seems louder now with the leaves almost gone from the trees.  I rode on to the Depot.  I'd stopped to open the pack on my bike to find that my small water bottle had leaked all over everything inside my pack :-(  I hadn't tightened the lid enough...  

Looking north from in front of the Malvern Depot~

Since it was warm out, I filled it at the hydrant by the Depot.  I hadn't tried water from this source, so took a swallow to find it had a somewhat mineral taste.  From here, it's just a short distance back north to the park entrance where I stopped to call Butch.

Top soil being removed~

Traveling back north - I stopped just off Key's Ave. to take photos of the top soil being removed from this large field.  Having seen this type of work many times before in WA, I'm pretty sure there's some type of development slated for this land.

It was late in the afternoon & the trail was so quiet.  Up ahead I spotted an animal off to the right side of the trail, near the trees.  As I got closer I thought - Coyote?  But no, bigger & the wrong color.  When this animal spotted me, it jumped across the trail to the left side.  As it crossed, I could see the tawny brown color & long tail of a decent sized Cougar!  He ran for maybe 100ft. (10 of my pedal strokes)  before moving off into the timber! 

Smokey & me on the Trestle~

What a thrill!  I called Butch from the Trestle to tell him of my encounter!  Seeing Cougars in Iowa is a rare occurance, just a very few a year, with no breeding population.  Butch told me that now - the cat would be behind me!  :-)  I told him I was putting the river between us, unless the Cougar took the bridge.  I hope he continues to move right on across this state & finds safe harbor somewhere with a higher tolerance for wildlife!

Stand-out orange leaves~

I was almost sorry to be done with today's ride.  These days will be gone all too soon, with the fall change back to standard time & upcoming winter months not far away...