Bath County leaf report as of October 17, 2015

By Lynn R. Mitchell

I had an email this morning from friend Barb who said she was sending a leaf report for areas west of Staunton in Bath County, Virginia:

We spent the last 5 days camping at  Douthat, great weather, good for campfires.  It has not reached peak in that area. Falling Spring was still green as was other areas but yellow hickories and dogwoods were pretty.  Warm Springs Mountain was colorful, almost peak.  All should be good next week, just giving you a report in case you want to roam over there.  I hope to get up on Skyline for a short run.

There you have it … an up-to-the-minute leaf report from Bath County. The next week will see many changes especially since frost has hit the Shenandoah Valley for the first time this season. We’ll be watching.

Hiker survives black bear attack in Virginia, Yellowstone hiker killed by grizzly

By Lynn R. Mitchell

A black bear attack on Saturday that injured a woman hiker from the Richmond suburb of Midlothian was a reminder that we are surrounded by national forest land and wild animals (see Midlothian woman survives bear attack in Douthat State Park and Bear attacks and wounds hiker at Douthat State Park). The attack, that took place at Douthat State Park in Bath County southwest of Staunton, is about 45 minutes from our front door. The injured hiker was with a group of five that startled the bear in a wilderness area four miles from their vehicle. All ran and the bear caught up with the woman, knocking her down and causing bite and scratch wounds that required multiple stitches on her legs and back.

Meanwhile, a 63-year-old man described as an experienced hiker was killed by a grizzly bear in the back country of Yellowstone National Park (see Yellowstone grizzly bear attack victim identified, bear caught).