I went for a 'short' bike ride on the Fish Lake Trail. On the initial gravel section overlooking a large but nearly dried out pond I saw three Great Blue Herons soaring away in their arcing flight. It was nice to get to smooth pavement after crossing the railroad tracks at the F.L. Trailhead. The orange tinted clouds where reflected on the surface of Fish Lake as I passed above. Fish were feeding all across the lake sending out ripples across the calm surface. There were an abundance of bugs along the trail this evening and I kept my head down as much as I could to keep them out of my mouth and eyes yet glancing up frequently to avoid the other trail users. In one open section a pall of dust had settled over the fields and houses near a dirt road that reminded me of the fog that is so common in our area in November and February.
I turned around at the Cheney trail-head and as I sped back racing the darkness the bugs grew thicker. With my head down I suddenly saw a dark patch of movement in front of and to the right of me. I had to swerve to the left while shouting and luckily the Porcupine turned back to the right. I nearly ran over him on my bicycle! I also could have swerved too violently and fell on him although I was probably traveling too fast for that. It was a very close call. As I got back to the gravel section I had to be careful with all the potholes but I had no real problems the rest of the way. The full moon over the canyon wall stayed with me and guided me back safely to my car.
