Winter Training Tales - part 2

    We've covered moose, but before we finish up with the wildlife, I should talk about the wolves...
    First of all, I'm very disappointed with the reintroduction of the Canadian Gray Wolf because we already had native wolves in my area and the Canadian wolves don't belong here...our local wolves have been killed out now and the intruders have ravished our elk and moose populations. I could go on, but I'll just say that I miss the trails five years ago, when the woods had more elk, deer, moose and bobcats...
    That being said, wolves are still amazing creatures - I just wish they were left in the correct habitat; like Alaska!
    I watch tracks constantly - trying to see where the animals are moving. It's rather disconcerting to come upon fresh wolf tracks that are the size of your hand...makes you wonder what they would do to the dog team if we met.
    But they never bothered us; although there were times I had serious concerns about meeting a pack. However, one incident made me very upset. Anyone who knows dogs, knows that when they get bored they make trouble - chewing, fighting, etc. It's the same with wolves. When they're not in their correct habitat, they have too much time and they kill for fun (exactly like when a sled dog gets out and kills all the chickens, but never eats one...). People will dispute this, but I'd like to know how many of those who would dispute it spend a significant amount of time in the woods...because the fact is that back in the woods up the river there is a moose carcass that the wolves chased over the cliff and left without touching anything except guts. And here's the proof from my phone camera:

 

    But to get back to the important things...sled dogs!

   

    On this same trail, I discovered some goregeous loops. One I took, planning on a seventy mile run, I only made forty miles because we ended up breaking trail and I was afraid we'd gotten lost because the forest service trail markers weren't very good. But we also discovered a fun, thirty mile loop I started using - and plan to use more in the future - which I find refreshing and dynamic because you start at the river, inbetween mountains which are pretty narrow and shady (nice and cool for the dogs) and you climb out onto the mountains for this view:

The tall mountains in the far back are Silver Mt ski resort!

Just cruisin'

The faint hazy mountains are what we see from our house!

 

    So the end of this post is that, despite the imperfect wildlife management, I'm so thankful to have the health and ability to travel into the wilderness. It makes me realize how amazing creation is and how unique every day is - because you always find something new to appreciate and be thankful for.