Walk on the wild side

I recently took a week vacation from work, and I spent a free morning at a local state park. There's a 10-plus mile trail around Big Creek State Park and Saylorville Lake in central Iowa. No, I didn't run 10 miles. Instead I took a 3-mile run/walk and brought my camera along to find some fall colors.

The leaves weren't turning colors just yet, but the squirrels were out in full force, storing walnuts in the ground to prepare for the long winter. I tried to get a good picture, but the buggers ran away whenever I got close.

A few vines and trees were changing color. These red leaves caught my eye.

There was literally a rainbow of colors just waiting to be discovered. I love these three shades together -- red, green and yellow.

As if the squirrels weren't entertaining enough, I found a possum curled up in the grass, obviously frightened by the bicyclist who just whizzed by.

That's about as close as I wanted to get to that critter. It was very ugly.

The sky was misty, so it was hard to get a great picture of the scenery. I took advantage of a break in the trees to snap this photo of the reflection on the Big Creek Reservior.

The grass was wet from the rains that moved through early in the morning.

It was a misty, wet morning, but so beautiful, I didn't want to stop walking down the trail. I spent over an hour at the park. Always wonder why I don't do this more often.