Lone coyote, not a pet.

At dusk, a coyote pauses and glances back as the animal follows a cleared ice trail across Connected Lakes south of Osprey Point at the Connected Lakes

Partially melted snow and ice form a strange pattern on the wet asphalt of the trail.

A golden branch of brush is highlighted by the dark Colorado River water.

An early winter morning fog shrouds the trees as a sculpture of a dog leaps for a ball on near the Botanical Gardens.

A few orange leaves cling to a branch beside the trail’s Audubon section.

Hikers wander along the snow-covered trail’s Audubon section beneath a canopy of cottonwood trees.

A branch covered with hoarfrost from the night’s fog catches the morning sun.

Melting snow puddles on the asphalt of the trail, mirroring the sky, clouds and tree tops above.

Icy lace from snow thawed then refrozen catches a wintery morning’s gray light on Watson Island.

Grasses along the bank of Watson Island are backlighted by the sunlit river.

A single branch of a weed on Watson Island is silhouetted against the sun-dappled surface of the Colorado River.

A fallen leaf captures a cluster of tiny pellets of snow from an overnight dusting.

Ripples and tiny waves create patterns in the river’s water along the banks of Watson Island.

A coyote makes eye contact as it runs along the dike of the Colorado River at the Connected Lakes segment of the Riverfront Trail.

A trio of geese float down to the river to roost along its banks just before nightfall.

A winter sunset turns the western sky a vivid pink above the trees that line the Colorado River along the Blue Heron section of the trail.

Against a steely sky, a flock of geese glide in for a landing to roost for the night along the Colorado River’s bank on the Blue Heron segment of the Riverfront Trail.

At dusk, a great blue heron takes flight from a small pond in the Blue Heron section of the trail.

Ripples of ice crowned with hoarfrost crystals line the banks of the river tinged in deep pink reflected from the sky at sunset.

Tom Dicke of Palisade saunters back to his truck through a maze of cottonwood trees with his yellow labrador Abby after a game of catch with the dog at the Riverbend Park segment of the Riverfront Trail in Palisade. “We come down here most every day,” Dicke said.

A small flock of geese glide across a cloud lit by the setting sun.

A bicycle rider enjoys the scenery as he rides beneath an arch of cottonwood branches along the Audubon section of the trail.