I came home from work and hopped in Matt's pickup. We headed out south of Cascade to an 800-acre cattle ranch, which is owned by an 80 year old woman. She leases her land for grazing, and it's just beautiful. The western edge follows the North Fork of the Payette River and it's tremendous elk habitat.
Elk were why we were down there: the elk draw in plenty of trespassers who come to poach off her land during hunting season. We met up with one of the city police officers (a neighbor of hers) and headed out on the four-wheelers to post all 800 acres as being closed to trespassing and hunting.
Cascade during the fall is so beautiful, especially down along the river where the cottonwoods and aspen are turning gold and shades of orange from peach to bronze. We saw a small flock of cinnamon teal floating in the river current and laughed as this year's calves spooked and bucked at our approach.
Times like this make me feel awfully thankful to live in such amazing country.