Mountain Lines
by Nelson Haas
After many years of tracking both man and beast, I soon learned that the apparent ease of tracking in snow can produce a false sense of security where your concentration levels are not up to maximum and you’re going to make a mistake.
Of course snow tracking is fast and easy on the eyes but certain circumstances can lead you astray, such as: interrupted snow patterns under a conifer canopy, heavy brush or protected, south-facing hillsides; contamination by man or other animals and wind, rain, snow, melt and freeze-over.
Where I live in the Colorado mountains, with a little snow melt, fox tracks turn to coyote tracks, elk tracks turn to moose tracks and bobcat tracks turn to mountain lion tracks. Also, I think it has a lot to do with my overactive imagination when alone in the wilderness.