Picture Perfect!

Today was one of those picture perfect Cloud 9 days! We got a little work done this morning then got together with my dad (he’s been a member since the early 70’s) and one of Rogers brothers and went for a ride. The sun was shining brightly with only a few bright white clouds in the sky. The leaves are just starting to change and it appears that this year is going to be one of the best we have seen in a few years. The beginning colors are vibrant and with the wet year we have had those to come should be fantastic. I have started to take a weekly picture from what we call Stable Lookout to try and capture the changes as they come, hopefully they will turn out well.

We rode for about 2 hours, the animals can tell that fall is on the way as they were busily scurrying collecting the different nuts from the ground as the acorns, walnuts and hickory nuts are all falling to the ground. The trails near the stream are full of “paw paws” and that near banana smell is beginning to permeate the air around the trees. We didn’t see to many on the ground yet and we have heard that is when they are ripe. The other day we had paw paw bread and it was pretty good, one member used to make paw paw pie but I never got to taste it. The ripe fruit does resemble a banana in both texture and taste.

As we went by the wild bamboo we had to stop and cut a piece to take back to the fire we knew we would be having later in the evening. If you don’t know what bamboo does when you burn it I am not going to be the one to tell you, but I will suggest that you try a piece at your next fire, make sure you have a couple of knots in the bamboo and the thicker the better!

We went by Cold Cave and then up to Lonnie’s Lookout, it was a nice ride but my dad was getting tired so we took the creek from Wilder to Fogey so he could cross the water. At Foggy crossing we had to get off the bikes and see how many fish have tried to swim to safety, you can’t fish from the tubes and there haven’t been to many swimming there lately.

After our ride we got together at my dad’s trailer for a cookout with Roger’s dad, a member since early 70’s and another friend who has also been a member since the early 70’s. It was a great ending to a great day at Cloud 9 Ranch!