Tracks on the snow

Hiked: 2018-04-07, Published: 2018-04-28

Observing is Learning

One of the most important aspects of hiking for me is, together with Silence, observation. I never hike in the presumtpion of crossing wild rare animals or making sesational findings, but in the humility to be lucky enough to have such a fortunate experience. Since my first steps as a very young man I felt like I always had the knowledge that every kind of life wasn't less important than mine.

Learning is a privilege.

Hiking the outdoors and the central Apennine where the environment is preserved, as it always should be, means to me having the opportunity and privilege of learning.

And to me learning is experienced at every step, the opportunity is continuos, not made of finite states. Given the chance I have of observing tracks, that wildlife leaves in the wilderness, continuosly during my hikes.

But sometimes I can't deny to feel luckier than others and what I found when hiked up to Lago Vivo on April 2018 was one of those.

Finding the track

Before continuing to the way back I was looking around by the lake and found a track of a group of wolves. Not older than early morning. Snow was soft enough to let them leave their well shaped footprints on a single line as it's typical of the wloves that do not just ramble around randomly, they know where they're going and save energy walking on footsteps of the preceeding ones.

A single wolf footprint with my hand as a comparison. A single wolf footprint with my hand as a comparison.

As soon as I saw the first footprint it took half a second to easily understand it was a wolf and felt lucky but the minutes after I realized it was an entire group ...I got excited. Interesting enough the footprints weren't old and just iced in the snow, they were recent, and the entire day hike gained a different meaning, fullfilled of respect and gratitude, this experience will never leave my memories. In my opinion, bu I'm not an expert, that could have been a family group of 4 to 6 of them.

The anonimous track of footprints. The anonimous track of footprints.

In what could be seen as just some wolf footprints on the snow, many things can be understood. They do not leave the direction, and go one efter the other, the sign of a 'cultural' behaviour that left tracks of their presence before I walked there. It's difficult for me if not impossible to find the right words to describe such an experience.

We are not alone

That wasn't the first time I found tracks of wild animals even of big animals and of wolves lik footprints, excrements, peel, remains of predations scenes, bones left overs, and so on but this was the first time I found a well preserved track of footprints that only the snow could keep, if not birds all of us leave tracks when walking on the immaculate snow. And it was a group. I'm a lucky man.

The line of footprints over the preceeding ones. The line of footprints over the preceeding ones.

Let me walk with you

I followed the track in parallel for some hundreds metres while it was leading inside the beech forest and strange but true I noticed wolves footprints were over a men's shoes and sticks prints older that theirs. I suppose wolves do that for saving energy and not sink in the snow otherwise fresh and soft. It took sometime to understand - and accept - it but when I was without any doubts I felt even more respectful and with renewed wonder to the wolves behaviours. Wolves took advantage of a track before them for when they could (...or wanted?).

Wolf on human beside my boot for comparison. Wolf on human beside my boot for comparison.

I don't know how to explain such a behaviour, here an ethologist maybe could, but clearly I don't think wolves could recognize a human biped track and follow it, but that's what I observed: wolves footprints on men boot prints. Incredible.

Walking forward parallel to the wolves track started to recognize very fresh tracks of ungulate and further on excrements of a chamois. Through the beeches without leaves a chamois in a late winter mantle observed me and discended down the slope and before doing so didn't miss the chance to let me know his aversion to my presence there and being him right I'd say.

Parallel to the wolves' on right, easy to see the direction left on the snow when pushing the leg forward.Parallel to the wolves' on right, easy to see the direction left on the snow when pushing the leg forward.

Fresh chamois excrements.Fresh chamois excrements.

And from there I 'branched' out my walking line from the wolves track and started to discend to the K4 to K6. A big portion of my being quite sad to not be able to follow it all the way they went given the deep enthusiasm I was experiencing but it would have been an error, a damaging disturb to someone that needs to live their lives and be respetced and preserved. So I took the chance to practice respect and peace and walked back to the end of my day hike.

Long live the wolf (Canis Lupus Italicus).

Walked and written by Gianluca Riccardi. Contents and opinions are my own. No free usage allowed.