Re-visiting the Aspen Grove with Yagi

 Thursday, Oct 13

Yagi and I went back to the Aspen Grove on the south end of the dispersed camping area shortly after 9AM.  I was checking out the road to see if Martha's CRV would be able to handle it.  Nope.

It was a bit brisk with temperatures in the low 40s, but still enjoyable to walk around:

As you might be able to see, the light wasn't as great as the last time I was here.

I returned to camp, going slowly as the road was being graded, I guess to get rid of the bigger ruts?

Spent part of the morning learning how to coil an electrical extension cord so that there are no snags or not when you uncoil it for use.  I used YouTube to find the method I liked best:

After lunch, I returned once again to the Aspen Grove and the light was "mo better"

Yes, I admit it, I can't get enough of the below scene:

Exploring a different trail, I found a grove of Aspen which had all their leaves at the very top of the trunk!  Nice to look at mind you but hard to photograph:

Encountered the grader on the way towards camp, I pulled over to the side and still he came pretty close to me with that blade!  Probably need to pull way over to let him pass next time!

You can see Uma, the VRRV, from the ridge north of it.  You didn't used to be able to do so, but as you can see, lots of trees have been cut down and removed.

I finally found where that nice pile of cut Aspen wood had come from.  There was a fenced off section where logging operations had cut down hundreds of Aspen trees!  It's the uglier part of the US Forest Service of course, but still, I found it depressing riding past large bundles of felled Aspen trees.

A change in plans, Martha will not be joining me tomorrow for a weekend of camping together.  I will be instead heading back home probably on Monday.

The VRRV is also due an emissions test, so it is best to get it done while still in the state I supposed to down south.

Speaking of going south, that will probably not happen now until after Christmas due to other events, some stuff I have to get done with the VA and it will be good to be at home with the family for the next couple of months or so.

I'll see if the weather turns too cold the next couple of days, might end up going home earlier than Monday.

Info links re Aspen, possible reason they were harvested here, and more than you probably ever wanted to know about the Quaking Aspen!

Possible Harvest Reason 

Information on Aspen from USDA 

The Decline of Aspen?