First moose, Dall ram, and cannibal ground squirrels!

Over the past couple of days I have seen my first moose (eating along the trail I was running on) and my first Dall ram (hiking up around Mt. Healy). The weather has been pretty much overcast lately, with some sunbreaks and some rain. Today was pretty much gray the whole time, but that didn't stop me from getting out and going hiking. I basically went the same way me and Justin went the other day, but this time I hiked along the saddles between some of the neighboring peaks.

The day started a little weird. I got up early and ate breakfast at 6:30am so that I could start heading towards the trail at 7:00am. I don't know if it was the big breakfast or the morning, but I felt really lethargic getting up the mountain. I ended up getting up in about the same time as me and Justin went up the other day, so I don't know what the deal was. I think I was the first person on the trail today and was definitely the first person up to the top. And I saw some interesting things up there.

The first thing is that the ground squirrels up here are opportunistic eaters. I thought they were foragers and, for the most part, omniverous. This belief was proven wrong when I came to the peak and found two ground squirrels fighting over a fallen comrade. They were fighting over who would eat him. I have a video if you don't believe me (unfortunately it's too big for this blog)!

Near the top of the last peak I thought I would go to today I was surprised by a Dall ram. He was on the other side of the saddle I was crossing. I snapped some photos of him. He seemed pretty interested in me. I thought I would backtrack a bit and eat a sandwich, hoping that during this time he would find his way to where he was going. Instead, he started heading my way, so I backtracked a bit further before deciding to head home.

The rocks up here do some really weird things. For one they come up in all sorts of weird textures, some look like wood almost, while others are brittle and break almost like a dirt clod. They all provide sanctuary for different animals, wild flowers, and lichen. I got some really cool shots of the bright orange lichen.

During the whole hike I had been dealing with cool weather, and was constantly stuck with being cool or being dry. Unfortunately my waterproof layers were just a bit too warm and I started sweating like crazy. So I hiked through the mist in a T-shirt and got a bit cold and wet. It cooled off enough at the top of the mountains (the wind was blowing pretty good up here) to go back to a shell.

Overall, it was a fun day. The weather could have been better, but it sounds like this kind of weather is the norm up here. I've learned of a couple other trails up around here that go to some of the neighboring mountains. They should provide some good opportunities to break in my new boots.

Until then...