As the sun dropped below the western hills, my dogs and I headed out for a hike on the ridge.
The temperature was in the upper twenties as we headed out, the wind blowing in the ten to fifteen mile per hour range made it feel even colder; but with fresh snow on the ground and the moon rising I looked forward to a special evening the woods.
We took one of the higher trails, heading up toward the top of the ridge, looking to check out an area where we spotted some fresh fox tracks in the snow this morning.
The dogs and I are a quite stealthy on the trail, my commands are given my hand signals and a silent whistle when need; they work the woods with their noses, barely making a sound more then the rustling of their feet through the snow and leaves on the forest floor.
High on the ridge we approached the area where we earlier had seen signs of the fox when all hell broke loose.
The wind must have covered any sense of our approach, because as we rounded a large boulder there was that fox up ahead crossing the trail on a large fallen tree, oblivious to our arrival.
My dog Jake, a large five year old Black Lab, was the first to spot the creature, and was off like a shot from a rifle.
The fox headed down into the valley, weaving through the underbrush and jumping over deadfalls like a gazelle; Jake hot on its heals.
By now Aiko, a two year old Akita/Husky mix, was also off down the ridge, vectoring in on the fox from another angle.
They headed down the mountain like fighter planes diving out of the sky, I followed the action as the silhouettes grew smaller, I probably would have lost sight of the whole chase if it where not for the snow cover.
At this point I was blowing hard into the dog whistle, trying to break the spell this fox had on my dogs; just before the fox dropped out of site and into the valley below my dogs heeded my commands and headed back up the ridge in my direction.
Reunited with my panting dogs, we continued on up the trail.
The remaining twilight had started to wane, but the moon rising in the southeastern sky started to work its magic on the snow covered landscape.
Crossing through a stand of large oaks we stirred up some turkeys that where roosting high in the canopy, my dogs danced on their hind legs trying to spot the action overhead.
By now the moonlight was bright enough to cast shadows, making for a delightful passage through the woods.
We headed down the ridge and started back on a lower trail.
From out of a thicket I spied the bobbing of white tails heading away as we approached, they disappeared like ghosts into the fog.
As we continued to complete our loop, off in the distance I could see the lights of my warm and comfy home; my thoughts where not on the hot coffee or succulent pork roast that awaited me there, they where on how much I thoroughly enjoying the outing in spite of the cold and windy weather.
All in all a wonderful moonlight hike.
"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."
Big Mike
The temperature was in the upper twenties as we headed out, the wind blowing in the ten to fifteen mile per hour range made it feel even colder; but with fresh snow on the ground and the moon rising I looked forward to a special evening the woods.
We took one of the higher trails, heading up toward the top of the ridge, looking to check out an area where we spotted some fresh fox tracks in the snow this morning.
The dogs and I are a quite stealthy on the trail, my commands are given my hand signals and a silent whistle when need; they work the woods with their noses, barely making a sound more then the rustling of their feet through the snow and leaves on the forest floor.
High on the ridge we approached the area where we earlier had seen signs of the fox when all hell broke loose.
The wind must have covered any sense of our approach, because as we rounded a large boulder there was that fox up ahead crossing the trail on a large fallen tree, oblivious to our arrival.
My dog Jake, a large five year old Black Lab, was the first to spot the creature, and was off like a shot from a rifle.
The fox headed down into the valley, weaving through the underbrush and jumping over deadfalls like a gazelle; Jake hot on its heals.
By now Aiko, a two year old Akita/Husky mix, was also off down the ridge, vectoring in on the fox from another angle.
They headed down the mountain like fighter planes diving out of the sky, I followed the action as the silhouettes grew smaller, I probably would have lost sight of the whole chase if it where not for the snow cover.
At this point I was blowing hard into the dog whistle, trying to break the spell this fox had on my dogs; just before the fox dropped out of site and into the valley below my dogs heeded my commands and headed back up the ridge in my direction.
Reunited with my panting dogs, we continued on up the trail.
The remaining twilight had started to wane, but the moon rising in the southeastern sky started to work its magic on the snow covered landscape.
Crossing through a stand of large oaks we stirred up some turkeys that where roosting high in the canopy, my dogs danced on their hind legs trying to spot the action overhead.
By now the moonlight was bright enough to cast shadows, making for a delightful passage through the woods.
We headed down the ridge and started back on a lower trail.
From out of a thicket I spied the bobbing of white tails heading away as we approached, they disappeared like ghosts into the fog.
As we continued to complete our loop, off in the distance I could see the lights of my warm and comfy home; my thoughts where not on the hot coffee or succulent pork roast that awaited me there, they where on how much I thoroughly enjoying the outing in spite of the cold and windy weather.
All in all a wonderful moonlight hike.
"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."
Big Mike
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