Cushman View Walk

Pipeline

Mouse tracks

 Yesterday, I walked to Cushman view and back a little over a 7 mile walk. I cut across on the pipeline to the road going to Cushman view. On it I noticed quite a few coyote tracks a few deer tracks, and several mouse tracks.
The mice are funny in the snow leaving these tiny trails and prints sometimes going under the snow to avoid becoming dinner. It is amazing to me how they survive the winter mostly unseen to the people who come up snowmobiling running quickly by any tracks.
I took a picture of the coyote tracks but for some reason they didn't show up in the snow too well, so you got the tracks even rarer to find up here in the winter...human tracks...which of course were made by me.
Leo had to stay home as the weather was a bit too harsh for him to make this long of a walk. There was a 12 mph wind that gusted higher at times making it sound like a large wave coming through the woods. Most of the time it is very quiet in the winter...there are only a few crows making any kind of noise as most the other animals save their energy for finding food and keeping from becoming food.
Once I got up to Cushman the sun was shining bright. It was a little past noon and the side of the

Homosapien tracks

hill was completely melted in the warm sun. I sat down against it and leaned back closing my eyes the sun felt warm even in 11 degrees. No wonder you can find many deer and turkey on the south side of hills taking advantage of any warmth they can.

You can see through the trees on the mountain this time of year to the snow on the ground. The entire
 area seems so different so transparent and light.

Road to Cushman

once the leaves are on the trees it becomes very dark and your ability to see through the trees stops.

On my way back I noticed logging trucks coming down the road to harvest the trees in the State Forest on the other side of my property. The logging road they follow goes around two sides of my property and they are logging right to the edge of it. They are taking out pulp wood so keep an eye open for them if you come in the road. It can be quit a surprise to meet a fully loaded truck on these narrow roads in the winter. According to the Forester they will be logging until April.

I am thinking about a big walk for Sunday around 

Cushman view

our block, which is about 12 miles. A lot depends on how much snow we get in next couple days, since much of the distance will be on unplowed roads. Walking in deep snow with heavy boots is nothing like walking in tennis shoes on dry roads in the summer. Every step takes a big effort and the going can be very slow if the snow is deep. So if it is more than a couple inches my plans may change. The walk should take about 6 hours so a packed lunch will also be involved.

This time of year you either embrace the weather and play in it or hibernate for the winter. Since hibernation has such bad effects on my weight and health, I must choose to embrace it. Besides who

Logging Truck

knows what I will see along the way. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Logging truck coming out of logging road