I had the luxury of a photo walk with my beloved wife this Saturday, and of course our choice was the Lewis & Clark walking trail on the Mandan side of the river. There is a trailhead at either end, and we chose to begin from the one in the Captain Leach area.

This end of the trail goes under the historic Northern Pacific and Grant Marsh bridges as it dips toward the bank of the river. There’s a good variety of foliage to be found along each of the trail’s two forks.

Of course, there are plenty of routes along the river that will provide scenic vistas. One can head north or south on 1804 or 1806, for instance. A nice drive up River Road and back around by Papa’s Pumpkin Patch could provide some breathtaking scenery and colors. Whatever your route, you’d better take it soon! It’ll be over before you anticipate.

Oh yeah…watch out for wildlife. This little guy was really mad at me. Some creatures just really don’t want to have their photo taken, I guess! He struck at me a couple of times, but thanks to the wonder of telephoto lenses I wasn’t close enough to hurt him. Nevertheless he felt cornered, and nobody likes that.