I didn't have much time, and it looked like snow clouds above Granville, but I knew this was likely my last chance to catch some fall color on the Granville Trail, so I went. I stepped out onto the trail in the late afternoon in 34 degree, breezy weather, under overcast skies. Chilly! Green forest turned to an almost fluorescent pink as I arrived at the head of Chase Creek. Wow! I was amazed at how many maples there actually were in this stretch. The rest of the year they just blend in. Spent some time roaming through the trees, then headed up to the ancient overgrown mine. Lots of fossils to be seen, but nothing resembling ore. By the time I got back to my truck, it warmed to 35 degrees. Nice! I have yet to see any other hikers on the Granville Trail.

The mystery of the day: there was a continuous double strand of yellow wires running along the ground near the trail for at least 0.75 miles, with a sign tied to them reading "danger, high voltage". What?! The Forest Service thought it had something to do with an ADOT widening project, but it was nowhere near the highway. Weird. I just hope those wires don't involve expanding the Morenci open pit mine into the Granville area.