Late Winter in the Mountains

It's that time of year when we get our most wintery weather. It was cold and windy this morning. Deep crusty snow still covered the ground.

I love living in the mountains but I reach a point, around this time of year every year, when I want springtime to arrive. Unfortunately, at 8200' elevation, springtime isn't knocking at our door yet.

I know almost every nook and cranny of our forest. When there's not deep snow on the ground, Shyla and I can disappear onto little known trails and have complete solitude for our rides. However, at this time of year, the deep snow constrains me to stay on the "popular" trails because they are well packed down by snowshoers and others. Shyla still goes into the deep snow but she's an uber-athlete and I'm not.

It's probably hard for most people to imagine but the world seems to get smaller at this time of year due to the limited trail options. I want to go visit all the secret wildlife places that I've found over the years but it's impossible to get to them - unless, of course, you have the athleticism of Shyla. I actually tried to get to one of those spots today but knee-deep snow stopped me.

Yesterday, on my solo ride, I tried to get to a different wildlife spot from today. I managed to roll down a snowy hill toward it but then the snow got too deep for me. I knew that I was in for a long trudge to try to get to my camera so I turned around to retrace my steps.

Much to my delight, a bobcat had been following in my tracks just behind me. I spotted him but he ran off too fast for me to get a photo. As he went into the unpacked snowy forest, it looked like incredibly hard work. The snow was almost as deep as he was tall!

Bobcats are so tough. Here's a photo of one from earlier in the winter, when it was very cold and he was hunting in the snow. The snow was much deeper yesterday than in this photo.

Aside from using packed human paths, it's hard to imagine how bobcats can eat enough calories to offset the hard work of moving through deep snow.

Very gradually, in a month or so, it will start being easier to move around the forest because the sun will compact the snow so much. In the meantime, only athletes like Shyla (and the wildlife) have the freedom of leaving the packed paths!

I've also noticed that Shyla has a special strategy for landing on crusty snow. She lands on the "heel" of her front paw with her toes spread out wide (you can see the strategy in the next photo).

I'm betting that she's trying to spread out the pressure under her paw, so that there's a better chance of the snow crust not breaking. But, at a full galloping speed, it take a very strong snow crust for Shyla to avoid breaking through!

I'm hoping for a sunny and bright day tomorrow to remind us all that spring is on the way!