This hike to Healy Pass started on a cold morning, half an hour before the sunrise. After a few hundred meters in, the leg settled into a rhythm that would be maintained until I reached the pass I was aiming for. Only stopping to remove the shell and the fleece. Much of the hike was in the woodland, with each step I was anticipating the view I was going to have if the overcast sky let some light in. The woods were quiet, on the steep sections I could almost hear my heart beating. But I was feeling relaxed, the body was in the zone as the mind was focused on the surprise higher up. A kilometre or more from the top, the vegetation on either side of the trail was covered with a few centimetres of snow. I looked down on the trail, for the first time that morning I saw evidence that someone had stepped on the tail before me.
On closer inspection, I realized a bear with two cubs had gone across the trail. The tracks were fresh, still soft to the touch. I looked in the direction they had gone, the view was obstructed with scattered larch trees. The trail I was on went well above their racks, I hoped perhaps I would see them from above. I kept looking for the family as I went up and across. No luck seeing them, but after a few hours of hiking that beautiful morning, I had the view in front of me that I had hoped for.
