Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

Its Valentines’ Day and I’m finally home.

The day was clear and beautiful.  I awoke to a small bit of fresh snow and a beautiful fiery sunrise.

Last night I watched the elk that overwinter in my valley.  I heard the recent G&F count was 1460.  They come down from the Park when the weather pushes them out.  This year, as last year, they were a bit on the ‘late’ side.  At dusk and dawn they come out of the tree cover to feed.  Here’s a herd of about 700.

The herd is almost exclusively cows and their calves with a few young males, called ‘spikes’ because their antlers are barely branched, if at all.

The whole day the wolves were howling in the valley.  Its mating season and I suppose its also Valentines Day for them too.

We felled some beetle infested trees on my property and did a burn that lasted till after dusk.  The wolves  howled.  The air was still and clear.  The ash fell like snowflakes.  Elk grazed on the flats up above and a lone Great Horned Owl called in the low light of the sky.  I’m back and everything is right as rain.

Filed under: Cody Environs, Fires | Tagged: Elk, Fire, Wolf, Wyoming |