January 11

   Writing in my journal on the 7th I noted that it had been "mostly sunny for two days now, the longest stretch of clear sky since early November", which was the result of cold temperatures in the teens and single digits. The dog and I did five miles near Lander, and I overheard passing ATV riders yell to one another, "I can't feel my face!" When the thermometer drops that much I cannot write out of doors with a pen, for even warm ink begins to freeze and skip within a minute. Today it is 40F and the dog and I explore the new logging road we had seen a few weeks ago. It is a loop road switch backing about a mile up the mountain then ending in a clearing where some logging had occurred before the weather turned. A steep cut descends to a lower road that then returns more or less on level ground to complete the circle. These open roads in the woods are used regularly by deer and fox and coyote- wild animals know easy walking when they find it-so some of the tracks proceed almost to the top. But it is a myth that they always prefer moderate angles, and their trails drop off sharply downhill or climb directly up rough ground when they leave the road, probably following territorial boundaries or whatever feeding opportunities arose.
      I had noticed large tracks on the access road, and at first thought they resembled a bear-improbable at this season-then wondered if they could be human or the print of a ski pole dragging in the snow. The thaw had distorted them such that I passed several minutes trying to discern their origin. At length the imprint of a large dog paw was clear in the ice, which confirmed that these odd tracks were the result of the dog running in a manner such that its feet struck the ground immediately behind one another, forming one large print that resembled a different species.