The main hiking leaders are out of town attending a high school reunion so the substitute hiker took the eight of us on the Cañada Bonita Trail. One hiker stayed behind at the Pipeline Road overlook into Valles de los Posos. The rest went to just above the start of the downhill to the Guaje Canyon Overlook.
I walked down to the overlook and took photos of Caballo Mountain. Several times, I heard some scruffling nearby and looked back, expecting to see one of the other hikers but saw no one.
I somehow managed to miss seeing the Cerro Rubio turnoff on the way to the Guaje Canyon Overlook. We all enjoyed the various viewpoints into the Valles Caldera along the way.
There are golden aspen leaves here and there on the trail but nothing large scale is happening yet. At the Cañada Bonita meadow, one of the hikers sang a line of the folk song "Where have all the flowers gone?" They were splendid while they were here. The same hiker pointed out on the way back where he had photographed loads of orchids in the Spring.
At the hike's beginning, seeing all the fireweed gone to seed, I had made the comment that it seemed like Spring just happened a few weeks ago. That's the only downside of the change of seasons - it can be sad to know that a season is past and to think that I may not have fully appreciated it while it was here. I feel the same way when I look at photos of our daughter as a baby. If I had only known how short and precious that time would be, would I have appreciated it more instead of letting myself get embroiled in the everyday ephemera of life?