Stumpy and friend
Last week brought several days of light, dry snowfall, perfect for backcountry skiing and for tracking. It's also vacation week, which means a steady stream of guests for the upcoming stint.
I skied in Friday afternoon in a snow squall that brought a fresh eighth of an inch to the valley. As I approached the first of the beaver ponds near the z-bridge, I saw two red foxes running toward me on the trail. I stopped and took off my pack for a picture, but when they were twenty yards away they noticed me and stopped. The fox behind went into the woods to the west of the trail, but the fox in front only paused and continued towards me, more slowly now. It was then that I identified it as Stumpy, the three-legged fox that's been denning near Zealand Hut.
Red foxes generally mate in January or February, so I surmise that Stumpy has found a special friend. This might explain why the two of them were too distracted to notice me as they were bounding down the ski trail towards me. I did manage to take a number of photos of Stumpy. I'll post these here by next weekend.
On Saturday I found a number of tracks: dozens of snow-tunnels left behind by voles, a few more fox tracks, and some moose prints and scat near the bottom of Zealand Notch by the Whitewall ledges. I also attempted a ski-descent from Zeacliff down the western side of the U-shaped valley that forms Zealand Notch. Unfortunately, the spruce and fir understory of the birch forest was thick enough that it was nearly impossible to link turns, and I mostly side-stepped and side-hilled my way down.
Today I'm in the valley (hence this post) for a meeting with the other caretakers and our supervisors. This is more of a social event than anything, since a chance to talk with other people our own age rarely presents itself at the hut. I'll return to Zealand on Monday afternoon, which is when a major snowstorm may also arrive in the neighborhood. Let's hope so.
I skied in Friday afternoon in a snow squall that brought a fresh eighth of an inch to the valley. As I approached the first of the beaver ponds near the z-bridge, I saw two red foxes running toward me on the trail. I stopped and took off my pack for a picture, but when they were twenty yards away they noticed me and stopped. The fox behind went into the woods to the west of the trail, but the fox in front only paused and continued towards me, more slowly now. It was then that I identified it as Stumpy, the three-legged fox that's been denning near Zealand Hut.
Red foxes generally mate in January or February, so I surmise that Stumpy has found a special friend. This might explain why the two of them were too distracted to notice me as they were bounding down the ski trail towards me. I did manage to take a number of photos of Stumpy. I'll post these here by next weekend.
On Saturday I found a number of tracks: dozens of snow-tunnels left behind by voles, a few more fox tracks, and some moose prints and scat near the bottom of Zealand Notch by the Whitewall ledges. I also attempted a ski-descent from Zeacliff down the western side of the U-shaped valley that forms Zealand Notch. Unfortunately, the spruce and fir understory of the birch forest was thick enough that it was nearly impossible to link turns, and I mostly side-stepped and side-hilled my way down.
Today I'm in the valley (hence this post) for a meeting with the other caretakers and our supervisors. This is more of a social event than anything, since a chance to talk with other people our own age rarely presents itself at the hut. I'll return to Zealand on Monday afternoon, which is when a major snowstorm may also arrive in the neighborhood. Let's hope so.
No comments:
Post a Comment