We woke up early. So early - since we had to get to the trail head just at sunrise in order to make it down before sunset. Seventeen degrees when we started and much colder with windchill once we got out of the trees.
We were the only ones on the entire mountain. That was eerie.
Well, we were the only ones save for the cougars, bobcats, elk, bear, and rabbits that left their evidence of existence all around us in the snow. That was beyond eerie. Then Rich reminded me (after he noticed that I had been looking over my shoulder and up on the rock cliffs, certain that I was going to be pounced on and gobbled up) that the animals are there all the time... the snow just provides evidence. I relaxed a little bit- we walked faster on our way out as the sun went down- still secretly hoping to not be #57 cougar attack in the Northwest over the past 100 years.
"Wilderness is not only a haven for native plants and animals but it is also a refuge from society. It's a place to go hear the wind and little else, see the stars and the galaxies, smell the pine trees, feel the cold water, touch the sky and the ground at the same time, listen to coyotes, eat the fresh snow, walk across the dessert sands, and realize why it's good to go outside of the city and the suburbs. Fortunately, there is a wilderness just outside the limits of the cities and the suburbs in most of the United States, especially in the West." - John Muir
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