It's been so long since I've been on the trails.  The hike this morning was long overdue.  I didn't want it to end.

On my way to Elk Island National Park I had a first time experience.  Just a short distance from home, close to the Strathcona Wilderness Centre, I saw an animal come out of the bush.  At first I thought it was a dog or cat.  As I got closer, it came up from the ditch and crossed the road in front of me.  It resembled an otter and moved with undulating motion.  It was larger than a weasel, dark brown with no markings and had a tail that could be described as 'tubular'.  From nose to tip of tail my guess would be that it was close to two feet in length.  The first thing I did when I got home was look it up in a reference book.  It was a mink.  Beauty!  Chalk up another first.

On the way to the park the deer and bison were grazing along the fence lines.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue.  I had a hard time deciding which trail to hike but my vehicle turned into the Amisk Wuche parking lot.

The boardwalks were bare but there was still a lot of snow on the trail itself.  I heard coyotes howling in the distance.  Crows cawed and chickadees sang.  Squirrels chattered from the tree tops.  The pileated woodpeckers had been busy creating large holes in the old decaying tree stumps.

The forest smell was amazing.  It was waking up from the long winter nap.  It smelled fresh and full of life, making me think that spring was definitely around the corner.

During one of the winter wind storms, a very large spruce tree toppled onto the trail.  The park staff finally cut the tree into small logs, clearing the trail.  I could have stood in that spot all day.  I love the smell of spruce and pine tree sap.  The freshly cut logs were oozing with sap. It was perfume to my nose.

The morning was so beautiful that I hiked a second trail.  I drove to Astotin Lake and visited the Lakeview Trail.  The snow on that trail has melted down quite a bit, leaving many moose and elk 'deposits' to dodge.  

I made it to the first bench where I sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the view.  The snow had melted on the lake surface leaving sheer ice that sparkled in the morning sun.  There was a breeze that rustled the tall grasses, dead leaves and bits of birch bark.  That was the only sound in the forest.  It was peaceful and calming.

I was about half way around when two squirrels raced back and forth across the trail.  They ran up and down tree trunks.  I stopped to watch.  They came straight at me. I could imagine how loud my scream would have been if they tried to climb my leg like a tree.

I approached the cook house on my way back to the parking lot.  I could smell the smoke from a wood fire.  That is the best aromatherapy ever!  A couple of guys were having an outdoor picnic alongside the lake.

I had almost four hours of outdoor time today and it was just what the doctor ordered.  The time was relaxing. A nap was next on the agenda.  When I woke, the deer were in the backyard.  The five regular white tails and one mule deer were filling themselves up.  They kept looking toward the forest.  I couldn't see what they were looking at until three mule deer came into view.  They didn't come into the yard but it appeared that they wanted to. 

The day was beautiful.  I'm trying to get all my chores done this evening so I can enjoy more forest time tomorrow.