Tracks in the Snow

Today during my cross country ski I saw lots of tracks but very few animals. I saw where a land otter had slithered along, sliding on the downhills and bounding where the trail sloped up. I saw where deer had used my ski trail from yesterday as a deer highway. Snowshoe hare seemed concentrated in certain areas and they had created well used paths across the trail. Fox tracks criss-crossed here there and everywhere looking for food. I saw chickadee, magpie, raven and even eagle tracks. I saw my ski tracks from yesterday, and right on top of them I saw bear tracks. But the only animals I saw were some sad, spawned out silver salmon in the outlet to Lake Catherine, ravens, eagles waiting for the bears to free up some fish scraps out on the lake ice, and one snow shoe hare hightailing it away through the alders. Still and silent with not a breath of wind, and lots of stories to read in the snow. Patrick