Reading the Snow

Yesterday morning I headed out into the white woods for an early morning stroll with my puppy.

The snow had been falling for a good few hours and there was an untouched white blanket over Oslomarka.

The crunch underfoot combined with the muffled silence of the woods was amazing.

We were making fresh tracks.

But as we crossed over the gravel path after 1 kilometre I saw some footprints and pawprints coming from the path and heading towards Svartkulp.

Here starts my tracking game….. Did I know the owners of the prints. The person had a 37-39 shoe size (I stepped next to their prints so as to compare). Most likely a lady.

The prints were really quite fresh, no more than 5 mins ahead of us.

The dog prints were medium to large pawprints….. Maybe my giant schnauzer friend who live down by the school.

A lead mark trailing loose by the prints would back up my theory. Not a long lead and not attached to the owner, it would make for different patterns in the snow.

We were never to find out if my theory was correct as they took a different walk from us 500 metres further on.

But suddenly I saw 2 lots of footprints, which I could investigate and make a new story.

Side by side and with a much longer gait than my regular walking stride. They had come through 30-60 mins earlier, given the fact the snow had partially filled in the print details and edges.

The prints from 2 different show sizes were side by side. The longer gait would indicate 2 people out for an early Sunday run in the fresh snow.

One of the runners knew the path well, the other not so well…. How could I tell? Well, one runner had carefully stepped around the blanketed streams, marshes and puddles which lay hidden beneath…. The other runner now clearly had very wet and muddy feet from not knowing these hidden traps.

My guess…. 2 friends, both male, one runner 5’8-5’10 and the other 6′-6’3 given their shoe sizes. The larger man wearing Salomon running shoes from the tread pattern (i know it well).

Fresh snow and fresh tracks can tell a whole story and create intrigue and fun when you analyse and use your tracking knowledge.

Amusingly I have honed these skills from tracking runaway dogs off on solo adventures over the years….. So it is nice to put them to use without the added stress.

Happy Snow Reading!

Doggies: Isak, Harpo, Pippi and Haraka