Monday, January 25, 2016

Great Hikers and a Kitty

47 hikers came out to the Underdown snowshoe trails on Saturday including seven fast ladies who made it around the Mist Lake loop with me.  I had to work to keep from slowing them down.  For the first time we were able to boot hike to Dog Lake on our Ice Age hike day with no will effects on the trail.

The trail was as fast and grippy as a sidewalk on the fat bike tonight.  I attempted to follow the tracks of an earlier rider around Mist Lake, but it was still too soft even after I let a lot of air out.  Bike tracks ended just over the first hill, and I was debating whether I should push it into the dark hemlocks up the next when out of the stillness I heard the scream of a juvenile sasquatch that people tell me is a bobcat screech.  I know they can't hurt me, but that incongruous yowl can give you the feeling that something is watching.  I headed back to Dog Lake remembering the only other time I've heard that sound, alone after dark on Turtle Lake Road after hours of silence.  I know that exact spot just like the exact location of the four times I've seen wolves in the wild are imprinted in my head.  Bears and owls I can forget, but some critters stay with you.
The bobcat I heard was something like this, but a bit less raspy, more a cross between a coyote and a crane.  Sorry for the guy cursing, but that sound can freak you out, especially in the dark a few miles from the car.

1 comment:

  1. Riding to Dog Lake has been great all week with a little powder to cover the ice. No more bob kitty action.

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