Ice on the Water ~

 Sunshine, warmer & no wind.  A day to be outside & enjoy.  I drove over to Silver City & was at the trail-head by early afternoon.  With the days getting so short, so quickly, I wanted to allow plenty of time.

Silver City~

I will say it was a bit chilly, in the low 40's & cooler in the trees.  But on the open sections of trail, the sun was warm.  With the trees again devoid of their leaves, it's quite a change of scene.  Back to stark & bright!

The trail~

Only the Catbrier had a few leaves left, hanging in the sun. 

Ice forming~

It's been cold enough, long enough now the creeks have the first layer of ice forming.  So beautiful & yet it seems early - not even winter - yet!  Just before the bridge, a familiar rider was coming my direction.  Mari Jo was on her way back north, we'd just missed meeting up.  We both commented we were a little cold, but it was worth it to be out on such a nice day!

Ice Forming on Silver Creek

The creeks are So low...  We need mositure so bad...  The latest statistics show Glenwood at 16" below normal.  I can personally attest to the incredible dryness of our soil.  We're supposed to be due for rain this coming week - it can't come soon enough.  I dread crossing the gravel roads if there's any traffic at all, which thankfully there ususally isn't.  The dust clouds carry for miles.

North from Malvern~

I did end up removing my jacket at the trestle.  My vest was enough as long as I kept moving.  I rode past the park to the arch by the depot, before turning back to take my break at the park. 

A very low pond~

As you can tell from the photo above - the pond is very, very low.  It's only fed by rainfall & that's been in scarce supply.  I have heard the harvest from our area didn't fare as badly as anticipated, but other issues affected the yeilds.  A little of a silver lining in an otherwise dusty season.  

Returning to Silver City, it wasn't long before my coat went back on!  I pulled in at home, an hour earlier than just over a week ago, to find the sun already setting behind the woods.