Once again, a forecast of sunshine beckoned me out of the late-fall doldrums and into the woods. Destination: Denny Creek. It seemed to be fairly popular, and I wanted to find out why.

Armed with my world-famous hummus, pita, and tomato lunch, I hit the trail. The late-morning sky was sunny as promised but the temperatures were cool. What time of year is it again...?

The trail meandered through the woods, rising ever so gently. It crossed Denny Creek a few times and even went under the I-90 interstate. It sure looks different from down here. It also makes these horrible rattly noises to make you think a truck is going to plummet down at any minute.

After about a mile I wound up at the main attraction, and the apparent reason for Denny Creek's popularity: a long series of cascading waterfalls. The river would probably not be crossable in the spring, but the dry summer had left much of the riverbed bare. People were everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but when you're hiking if you see more than two people it's crowded. I spent about an hour wandering up, down, and around the river, taking pictures. Not too many of them turned out. Sigh.

Well, enough playing on the rocks. I had a lunch to eat! And a destination at which to eat it. I found the continuation of the trail on the other side of the river and continued on.

The trail led me steadily upwards, passing through a few short valleys and switchbacking up towards the pass. I was getting tired, and hungry, and a bit cold, and once again I was getting a blister. One day I will learn to stop and treat hot spots when I feel them. Today was not to be one of those days.

I reached the top of the pass to find a stiff wind waiting for me. I continued down the other side to find a beautiful lake about 1/2 mile beyond the pass. The wind was there, too, so I walked along the shore trying to find a sheltered spot at which to eat my gourmet meal. I finally found a big boulder near the water and set up camp in its shadow.

Once again, lunch was a masterpiece. Pita bread dipped deep into hummus, with thick wedges of tomatos and smoked cheddar cheese. Mmm, mmm. I happily stuffed myself until I noticed that I could no longer feel my fingers. Man, it was cold up there! What time of year is it, anyway? Whatever the season: stiff wind, cold temperatures, and tomato-juice-covered fingers don't mix. I also noticed that it was approaching mid afternoon and I still had several hours of hiking ahead of me to get back to the car. I bundled everything up and rambled on out of there.

About fifteen minutes later I was happily strolling through the woods, not paying much attention to anything, when I happened to notice a wolf on the trail in front of me. 10 feet in front of me. Big wolf, with bright piercing eyes. I believe I made placating little noises while I backed away, but I was pretty much scared senseless. Big, big wolf, with keen, pale yellow eyes, and a bright blue collar. "Hmmm..," I though to myself, "I didn't know wolves wore bright blue collars." That's when the husky turned around and bounded back to his owner, a few hundred feet back up the trail.

I calmly convinced my stomach to flip right side up and then urged my knees to continue up the trail. They resisted for a few steps, but soon fell into line. I considered giving the dog's owner a piece of my mind, but really couldn't be bothered.

The rest of the trail flew by as I hustled along. The sun was low in the sky, and getting lower. It quickly disappeared behind the mountains, throwing the forest into a deepening gloom. Being the kind of extra-careful person who's ready for everything, I just happened to have my flashlight with me. Good thing, too. I spent the last mile following the trail in near darkness. Where did the long days of summer go? It isn't almost winter already, is it?

Yes, it really is almost winter. Funny thing, but a sunny day in November and a sunny day in August are actually very different things. November sunny days are colder and shorter. Colder and shorter. Got it? Good. Now don't forget your gloves and flashlight.