Slow Hike

[loanshark]

While on the Engine Hill Bushwack last week with my Lab Dooley and good friend Ed Smith. I saw alot of deer and moose sign. I didn't see any animals because we were moving pretty quickly and I didn't pay attention to the wind. But that's ok as Mt Isolation as a day hike does not afford one the time to dally. It made me think of a couple of recent hikes I took near my home. One was in June and one earlier this week. I called it a slow hike because there was no peak to bag, and frankly I didn't try to cover more than a couple of miles. I'm fortunate to live near two state forests and some conservation land owned by the town. So I picked a day that had some recent rain to make the ground nice and quiet and put the wind in my face. Not too far into it I got lucky and spotted a good size doe in the wide open. Even luckier to have two fawns at her side. I was dressed in drab colors and was not moving except to point the camera. They didn't stay put for long but I did get the fawns before they followed along with mother. The next hike came during a misty day in June. I was able to get close to several browsing deer, mostly yearling does. There was one young buck growing his first set of antlers. Next up was a pair of birds that I first thought were Robins but turned out to be Rufous sided Towhees. A short while later I came upon a groundhog who panicked when he saw me. I didn't know it but his hole was behind me and he nearly ran me down to get to it. Pretty funny. The last deer encounter was a bedded fawn. I watched her for a while hoping to get a glimpse of it's mother, but the wind was not quite right and she eventually sniffed me out. On my way back home I spotted a large black snake. I'm guessing it was some sort of water snake as there was a swamp nearby. Someday I'm going to put my peakbagging aside for a while and take a slow hike in the whites. Here are some pics. Sorry if some are not quite focused, but these darn deer don't stay still for too long.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/580577479jPYSkr?vhost=outdoors

 

[audrey]

You did have a productive day! That's a northern water snake. They vary in color, and this one's particularly dark.

 

[eddie]

I recently did an early morning trail run, which is relatively quiet, and I counted 14 deer, including two separate young deer that I ran right by, perhaps no more than 15' away. They just watched me go by. It really was fun sneaking up and spooking a few.

 

[loanshark]

slow hike

Thanks for the snake ID audrey. I once found a large one of these with a half ingested chipmonkl. Both dead. Thanks Eddie. Amazing what's out there. I think you were moving a bit faster than me. Probably took them by surprise.

 

[una_dogger]

Congrats to Dooley on bagging Iso.

 

[loanshark]

Thanks Sabrina, He behaved himself. Didn't have to leash him. He did cause some comotion. Just as we topped out near Engine Hill I heard all kinds of sceaming coming from up the trail. Turns out a group of girl scouts camped for the night. They thought Dooley was a bear.

 

[forestgnome]

really nice!!!!!

 

[loanshark]

Thanks Patrick, I'll never rival your photos.

 

[PETCH]

Great shots Skip, good stuff.

Petch

 

[loanshark]

Thanks Petch, What's with all the yellow shirts? Is this team Petch?

 

[erugs]

I love the one with the fawn, and the way you had a sprinkling branches between you but left the face clear.

 

[loanshark]

Thanks Ellen, It's rare to get so close to fawns that young. They only stayed put long enough for a couple of quick shots.