Got out again on Saturday the 1st. Had to ride solo for the first 3 hours since my old neighbor buddy was late again. At least he made it and we were able to meet on the trail. Another cold start, but warmed up nicely. Covered about 58 miles or so, so not an overly long ride. Total time as a little over 13 hours though. Started out seeing some deer, but I was watching the ruts in the road vs the landscape and didn't notice them until they were on the move, so I didn't get any deer photos. A short while later, I saw what I thought was a burned tree in the distance, then it moved and I realized it was a bull elk. I was able to get a few photos of him. Decent rack, not huge, but some hunter would be happy with it. He started moving as I got closer and then I was able to see the group of cows he had with him. Pretty good sized group. I was only able to get a photo as they were all moving through the trees. Ran across some turkeys as well, got some photos of them. Then no more wildlife except for a couple of birds at the little pond. They were having quite the time diving under the water just past the ice to get something to eat. I was surprised to see the birds go completely under water. There was ice along the edge of the pond and that was it. It was a nice, peaceful and safe ride....although I did have a few moments that were a little tense. I always seem to choose a road that has significant ruts in it. The CF Moto did fine though. Rode into the night, the last couple of photos are a true statement to the ability of phone cameras now, it was a lot darker than the photos make it appear. 3 and 10 second exposure makes the night almost look like day. Saw an interesting thing going through the sky, no sound and looked like it had lights on it, but I don't think it did. It was moving like a satellite, but closer and brighter than other satellites I've seen. My buddy has an app that lets him point the phone at the sky and it will tell him what constellations and other objects are in the sky in view of the phone. He pointed the phone at the object and it said it was a rocket body, I'm assuming a Starlink rocket. We were trying to find the comet, but we weren't able to see it. I'm not sure it was still even visible this late in the month. Sorry, long post and several photos. Here are the photos.
You can see the butts of the cows as they are moving through the trees.
Thin layer of ice at the edge of the pond.
The cold morning rides are the only time I drink my flavored coffee.
Took a few photos to get the water drop hitting.
3 Second
10 Second