moonlight hike October 2

A walk under the full moon on a calm, warm evening--it doesn't get much better than that. At least two great horned owls were out, and the coyotes were singing to the South (one of them made a loop-de-loop sort of sound). There's evidence of badgers back at the prairie dog town on the East end. And we got to experience the dramatic changes in air and humidity that are unique to dry open climates. At the slough above an opening to one of the side canyons, the air was immediately cooler and more humid, returning to warm and dry at the top of the slope. A 'pocket' of air is really a great description, and sometimes walking up and down the hills in the evening is as dramatic as stepping through the door of an air-conditioned or heated room, though of course here the only 'door' is one we can't see. Photo by Paul Miller, one of our participants.