On Tuesday, I once again found myself driving to the trails in some of the worst fog I’ve ever driven in. It was like driving into a white wall for 13 minutes, hoping to arrive with car and body intact.

And with 13 minutes of unwanted morning stress behind me, I took off into the dark woods with my headlamp lighting the way and illuminating each breath I exhaled into the fog.

Not sure if it was the drive or just general life-long malaise and self-hatred, but my body and mind were not into the hike, and two miles in, I opted to switch from a 6+ mile loop to one that would be just over 5, coming in at 5.17 miles.

I wasn’t having too much luck with photos, just some fall leaves and some fungus that grew pretty much overnight on a trailside tree. But then, just as I was finishing up, with about .25-miles to go, I saw a Great Blue Heron in the river. I expected it to fly away, but instead, it started stabbing around in the water and seemed unfazed by my presence.

I kept my eyes on it, hoping that it was looking for some food, and BINGO! IT WAS!!

Soon, a large fish was at the water’s surface, and the heron continued stabbing at it and even picked it up in its mouth, thinking about eating the whole damn thing.

I took a few more shots, but now the heron was a bit suspicious of the fat human on the bridge, and let the fish down for a bit, seemingly to wait for me to leave so it could eat in peace.

I’ve seen hundreds of herons in my life, but I never saw one actually “fishing,” and I was pretty stoked. Sadly, the pics aren’t great, and every time I look at them, I wish that I had taken them with my 600mm lens to help separate the background a bit, but then I remember that the 600mm lens weighs 5.5 pounds, and the lens I use on my Z50 weighs 1. Plus, I like to keep my photos looking crap, so people know that an unprofessional aging moron took them.

The hike wasn’t my finest, but I got five miles in and had a cool wildlife experience. Sadly, none of that helped my mood, but like last night’s tacos, it’ll pass.

Wednesday

I was, of course, back in the woods early Wednesday to lumber out 6+ miles, see no wildlife after sunrise, and resist the urge to lie down in the weeds and go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow.

Later.