Hello Amazing nature community. Well it's Christmas Eve or Christmas day for some. I wish I had some snow to show but I will have to settle for some fog for now, it's still white but not frozen. Five days ago I seen the weather forecast out to Christmas day here. It called for fahrenheit temperatures in the the 50's mostly with some rain. All of a sudden it has changed and we might get 4 to 8 inches of snowfall in the next few days. Maybe a white Christmas after all 😊 They also didn't predict fog days out. Let me show you the fog I seen Friday night and Saturday morning.
These were taken Friday night from my house. Super dark already and the fog was pretty dense. Visibility wasn't very far and you could only see maybe to the next light source. Temperature to me was warm, it was about 40 degrees fahrenheit. If the dark in itself isn't eerie just add some fog and it will bring those vibes.
Driving around (delivery driving) I seen mixtures of it. Some really dense fog and some that seemed to be rolling away. Some fog so thick you couldn't see what it was hiding while a few blocks away it was hanging off the ground. I was surprised the night sky revealed the moon. Than again only in some areas you could see it. I had a weird thing happen. I was thinking about the song, "Thriller" by Michael Jackson and no lie it came on the radio, haha. I don't know maybe somebody called the radio station and requested it.
In thick fog lights don't make it that much better to see. A lot of the time they are just blurs in the fog.The good thing is the fog cooperated with the roads and streets as only a few times did obscure my vision while driving.
So Saturday morning I had to take the kiddo to basketball practice. It was shortly before 9:00 a.m. The fog has not left us from the previous night. I took these two shots from his school parking lot.
Now that I think of it I should have gotten out of my car and walked up to the football practice field. I could tell from the ground that field was probably covered in it. I have played football in the fog back in my younger days. I can say that the game turns into a running game as it can be difficult spotting the ball in the air as its thrown. The last shot I took gave me an idea of heading to the perfect place to witness a lot of it.
Before we get to that place let me show you some more. Driving on roads that are surrounded by forest you have to be even more alert for dashing wild life especially during foggy conditions. This morning it was just hovering above freezing. If it were below freezing the fog would have made for some icy roads.
I tell you from experience driving on icy roads from fog is no fun. It makes it almost impossible to get up steep hills and all so dangerous going down them. The worst part is fog usually causes what is know as black ice. Black ice is ice covered roads that you can't tell by looking at them.
Just like the moon I only captured the sun once this morning through the fog.The fog was just everywhere. Even though the sun may light up the day the fog fights and doesn't allow it to be sunny. Definitely not a morning of shadows as there really was zero sun rays. I feel as if this fog is here to say the snow is coming soon.
I arrived at the location where I wanted to be, Lookout Point. It's the highest elevation area in the city I live in. It also contains many walking trails in the hills that contain many trees. Basically a forest environment with trails.
Here's a few of the trail entrances at the park. I only walked a few hundred feet within them. I have to admit something as to why. I was only wearing shorts, t-shirt and some flip flops. At 36 degrees fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) not exactly warm hiking gear, haha. All the entrances all had fog in the distance. Even though I didn't walk to far in the forest I could feel the moisture on the trail which I felt on my feet. I would have thought being up higher in elevation the fog would be real dense. This wasn't the case at the main overlook place though.
The main overlook point has a view of the eastern side of Council Bluffs, Iowa along with much of Omaha, Nebraska. Easily a good 15 miles of view can be seen from this point. Today you couldn't even see a single building or house. The whole viewing area contained dense fog. Check out the short 22 second video below to see the complete view from this point.
https://youtube.com/shorts/SZ0BxU4QiD4?si=k9R0UcRAUpCwu-YK
For those of you that watched it's pretty crazy right? You can hear the sounds below and beyond the fog but can't see them. You can hear an ambulance traveling with it's sirens on. You can only imagine where it's at and what the scenery looks like.
Before I go let me show you some more shots of the forest with the fog yet again. I have to say with the fog it gives the place a better look than if there wasn't any. Do you agree? Going out and seeing all this fog has made my mind think is there anything beyond it that will be a surprise. Isn't it the best hiding for say a Big Foot or maybe a Fog monster? I ask those who like to walk trails or hike would you get to stepping in the fog on chilly day?
Well that is all I have for you on this festive day. Perhaps I share this place again when it snows. Merry Christmas and advance Happy New Years to everyone. Take care and stay safe. Until next time!
