A Haiku For Fall (Updated)

I'm back from Montana.  I left Logan at 3 pm on Wednesday, checked all 32 cameras, copied pictures, changed batteries, and started driving back home before dark on Thursday.  It's a new record, 34 hours, door to door.

The drive through the north end of Cache Valley, between the Lemhi Range and the Beaverhead Mountains (sothern end of the Bitterroot Range), and up and over Lost Trail Pass into Montana was quite scenic as usual.  I saw a herd of elk and a yearling black bear cub.  The bear was in the middle of the road and did not move until I was stopped right beside it.  It loped in front of me for 100 feet or so because of the guardrails.

Fall has come to northern Utah and Idaho.  Life is buzzing, a last hurrah before winter sets in.  Driving along the Lemhi River, the insects were so thick, it sounded like heavy rain hitting the windshield.  All the trout were well fed.

Last dance in the sun
Hatch, swim, reproduce, and die
Before the snows fly

Magpies, starlings, geese, and sandhill cranes are flocking up, getting ready to move.  I love this time of year.  I lived for 35 years without a real Fall.  Now, I'm going to enjoy and embrace each and every one.

I took this picture in southern Idaho on Wednesday, a blaze of color in the desert.  I will go this weekend to get some pictures in Logan Canyon and post them soon.