Winter Runs

A storm had just blown in and covered everything with 6-12" of fresh, dense snow.

The Wednesday night run at City Park was in big-puffy-flakes falling down. I love running in this kind of snow-fall!!!

This week's DTR Thursday run was done on South Table Mountain. By then the snow was harder to get through. I wore my Atlas racing snow-shoes. It was a lot of fun.

On the way back, I found myself running alone. I heard a coyote around the bend. As I came around, I slowed and looked in the direction of yapping. I didn't see the coyote, but I saw a mule deer trotting up the mountain with obvious fear. No doubt there were a couple of other coyotes who were not yapping. The yapper corrals the deer while the others move in from the sides and try to ham-string the deer.
It was really cool to happen onto such a scene! Think of all those sorry saps sitting at home watching TV and I was watching real coyotes hunting real deer in a beautiful winter wonderland!

In Buena Vista last weekend, while trial-running, I decided to explore off-trail. I didn't stray far because there were boot tracks and I was afraid a hunter might shoot me. However, I saw the biggest freakin' canine tracks I've ever seen in the wild. They were as big as my hand. There are some people who break the laws and have wolf-dog hybrids. Too many hybrids attacked people, so they're confiscated when found and sent to refuges, or killed. So maybe this was a hybrid? Or, maybe wolves, which were re-introduced to Colorado many years ago (and my brother and I found a carcass of one with a tracking collar near Idaho Springs), have worked their way down south far enough to be wondering the hills around BV?

There were tons of deer around BV and Salida. They practically walk right up to you. They aren't "tame". They're used to a particular distance. If you look at them, or move the wrong direction, they bolt slowly away. I've found that if I whistle from a high-note to a low-note, it calms them. In fact, when I was younger, I could lure deer within 20 feet of me by wallowing in the grass and whistling. Curiosity could get them killed. Some deer can't resist checking out such a bizarre display. If I had a bow, they could be venison steaks.