It was chilly and clear in Columbia this morning, with the first frost of the season coating our lawns; the temperature was in the mid 30s (F). Driving west on I-70, the countryside was ablaze with fall colors, briefly obscured by dense fog in the Missouri River Valley. Entering Kansas, cloud cover began to build and the wind shifted out of the north, spinning the turbines west of Salina. Freezing drizzle appeared near Russell and a frosted landscape had developed by the time I reached Wakeeney, persisting to the crest of the Palmer Divide, in eastern Colorado. Approaching Denver, sheets of virga, some reaching the ground as snow, hung along the Front Range and a modest dusting whitened the roofs and lawns of the Mile High City; the temperature hovered in the upper 20s (F).
Despite the bleak landscape and winter-like conditions, I did manage to see an interesting mix of wildlife on my 11 hour journey. Dozens (if not a hundred) red-tailed hawks surfed the wind across Missouri and eastern Kansas while northern harriers hunted low across the icy fields of the High Plains. A flock of white pelicans drifted to the south just west of Hayes, a mix of teal and shorebirds covered many of the farm ponds and a herd of pronghorn browsed the windswept plains near Agate, Colorado. But the highlight of the trip was a large flock of sandhill cranes; numbering 100 or more, they circled across the highway just north of Limon.
I'll spend the rest of the week at our farm in Littleton and, no doubt, we'll be back in mild, autumn weather within a few days. For now, a taste of winter is in order, a common occurrence in October along the Colorado Front Range.
