Deep cold, deep snow.

Out late morning for a foray into the Woods from the NW Entrance by the Ponds Trail. February first brought deep cold hovering in single digits for a few days and blizzard conditions with several inches of snow. The snowdrift at the trail head was 20 inches deep, over-topping my knee boots. The snow depth along the trail was 3-5 inches.
The west pond was frozen solid enough to allow me to stand in the center and contemplate the trees on the northern edge from a novel perspective. Around the edge of the pond there was an inch of open water as there was at the northwest seep feeding the pond.
I saw numerous deer in the Woods; maybe a dozen or more..moving in small groups of 4-5. Lots of deer tracks in the northern center of the Woods, east of the East Pond.
I found several clusters of deer beds, four or five roughly elliptical beds with the snow melted.

Interesting to see the degree to which the deer are using the blazed trails. I wonder if it is because the trails are open.. or if they recognize and follow the blue paint blazes. No deer tracks at all south of Barney junction along the N-S Fence line trail.

The East Pond is also frozen solidly enough to walk across. I saw no robins, one lone sparrow on the ice at the East Pond. One other human track west of the Western Wash.

The snow reveals the tracks of animals using the base of hollow standing snags for shelter. Need to get Nick to help figure out what they all are.

I encountered the same wild dog in the Woods along the South Boundary Trail and followed it to its den under the big cottonwood log. It ran away barking.