Grouse Wingbeats

Skiing in the Garnet Range, we had wandered down a side trail on to an old single-track snowmobile trail reminiscent of a group of mountain lion hunters speeding through forests, searching for tracks. On our excursions we’ve met these groups before. They always seem proud of their work. Near the Lochsaw River in Montana, one snowmobiler asked me if I liked the access I he and his fellow lion hunters had given me that day. I wanted to tell the snowmobiler and his buddies about what they had missed out on-- about the place where we saw fox tracks sneak down a steep back and then, lengthen. Two or three paces later, past the snowtrack and a short pile of weathers was a short feather trail. Down the opposing bank, the imprint of grouse wings, continued, dancing across the snow as it tried to get away from a fox. A signature of wing beats was left remaining before the bank dropped off.