Fall rains and a taste of Winter in August
Except for a spectacular May, this was a sad excuse for summer in the Yukon, and now it’s gone. The Whitehorse area typically gets about 262 mm (10.3 inches) of precipitation per year (21.8 mm per month), but this year we got 35 mm in July, and a record 65mm of rain in August. Mushrooms are usually the first sign of Fall’s arrival, but our property has had lots of them growing since late July.
The thing that I like most about Fall is the colours. Not just the yellow and red leaves, but just the colours of everything that are made vibrant by the rain. This photo shows Monty on one of his walks on the trail around our property. Despite some bad days, he’s still enthusiastic about his walks – when that stops, we know that things are very bad for him.
Mushrooms are one of my favourite Fall photo subjects. The variety is quite incredible, from delicate ones a tiny fraction of an inch across, to massive ones that are several inches across. I’d like to be able to put names to them, but have given up. Environment Yukon’s mushroom brochure says that “Learning to identify mushrooms can be a daunting task”, that there are thousands of species of mushrooms here, and that many are poisonous. Yes, it sure can be daunting, so I’m just going to enjoy photographing them without worrying about what type they are 🙂
I’m often amazed by the power of mushrooms as they force their way to the surface.
Moose nuggets must make a great home for a mushroom.
Beyond mushrooms, the rains bring other things to life – even a ragged spider web can take on a special beauty.
Looking closer at things like this lodgepole pile branch is easier when the mountains are hidden in clouds day after day.
There aren’t many really vibrant colours yet, but the show of some fireweed is worthy of note, and many of the high country berry bushes are at their peak.
Fall is always an extremely busy time, but I got most of my winter firewood supply in many weeks ago. I only have another 2 or 3 cords to split and stack, and it’s not a high priority. That thermometer has hit “0” and lower a few times already.
It was rather a shock to wake up on August 31st to find the back yard looking like this!
The snow melted within a few hours, but it got me into a higher gear to get a few projects taken care of. The motorhome will be back on the road on Wednesday (September 9), taking me south on a month-long tour of BC and Alberta to visit family.
It’s a little disconcerting to see that snow is already hitting a few of the areas I’ll be going to, notably the Banff and Jasper areas. I’m not ready to spend $2,000 on snow tires for the motorhome, but I’m looking for a set of chains for possible emergency use. Chains for 19.5-inch tires seem to be hard to come by, though.
This map shows my route over the next month, heading south on the Alaska Highway and returning on the Stewart-Cassiar. The next time I post on the blog will probably be in Dawson Creek, a week from now.
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