A surgery anniversary

Today was an anniversary. I had my neck fusion surgery one year ago, and K got out of the hospital after intestinal blockage surgery on that same day. I must say that today was much more fun than our day one year ago. It seemed to me like an occasion for celebration.

K and I took an extra long hike this morning, and she was giddy with puppy-like energy. She rolled in the snow with abandon.

And then she shook off the snow clinging to her fur.

During our hike, we found the tracks of a mother mountain lion and her large kitten. Sometimes, their tracks showed that they moved side-by-side, and the kitten often loped while mom walked. In the photo below, the kitten's tracks are on the left and the mother's tracks are on the right.

The mother's tracks were smaller than the lion tracks that I've been seeing frequently in our forest. The hand warmer is 3.5" long and the track is smaller.

The pair appeared to be in stealthful hunting mode for much of their walk. They'd walk from tree to tree along their path, and a bunch of tracks would be clustered together at the base of each tree. I suspect that they were standing behind each tree to scan for prey.

At one point, they both sat down, leaving distinctive marks in the snow. In the photo below, the sitting mark is at the bottom of the photo. The lion's butt left a completely melted spot. Then, the lion walked away, upward in the photo.

The kitten still played with the abandon of a young one. I saw many places where mom walked steadily forward but the kitten leaped onto boulders and fallen trees. In the photo below, for no particular reason, the kitten walked a downed tree like a balance beam.

Near the end of our tracking, a bobcat's tracks met the mountain lion's tracks. The bobcat had walked carefully placing each paw into one of the packed down mountain lion tracks. The bobcat's legs are so much shorter than a mountain lion's legs that he could only maintain the long reaching strides of a lion for a few steps. Then, he'd give up on putting his paws directly in the lion's tracks... leaving a few of his own tracks, before starting the whole process again. Now, that's an audacious bobcat!

While we investigated the lion tracks, K was leashed. She was a happy dog when we left those tracks behind and she could run again! She kicked up her heels sending snow crystals flying into the air.

After our hike, I headed out on the snowbike, making new tracks on a favorite winter route.

I saw all sorts of wildlife. A splinter group of elk hung out in a meadow near my house. These cow elk watched me closely!

A couple of young bull elk mingled in the group, sporting spike antlers.

While I was riding, this group walked very close to my house leaving a trail of churned up snow. Their tracks showed that they came close to the front door. The dogs must have gone bananas!

Deeper in the woods, I spotted a young mule deer buck who thought that he was invisible in the pine trees.

I rode hard, enjoying the warm sun and the fact that I wasn't lying in a hospital bed like last year. Thanks to the surgery, my neck is much more stable and I ride my bike more confidently. I felt happy today.

In our clearing, I saw one last beautiful being, a White Breasted Nuthatch perched in a pine tree, chirping insistently.

A good day - especially when compared to one year ago.