tjugoett and lynxes

How excited was I to see these tracks today.  Yes, the lack of question mark is because this is a rhetorical question.  I was very excited.  Among my various nerderies is a great love of wildlife, and yes, I especially know cat tracks when I see them.  These belong to a Swedish lodjur, or lokatt, if you prefer:

picture stolen from the vast ether of the internet

Yes, a lynx. 

Lynxes are not common critters here, and so the idea that there is at least one prowling my local trails is incredibly cool to me.  Some estimations say there are only about 1500 lynxes in all of Sweden.  I recognize that my chances of ever seeing a lynx itself, and not just its prints, is really really slim ... I don't think anything sneaks up on a lynx, least of all me.  But still - so cool, and you never know.  It almost makes me want to run the 10km loop again this week, even though the trail is pretty snowed over and it kind of kicked my butt today.

Seeing the lynx tracks on the 10km spår also and almost makes up for the fact that I subsequently and inexplicably decided not to take the camera with me when I set out on the 6km track, thus missing prime photo opportunities involving both deers and my friendly, neighbourhood, always-seems-to-be-hunting-on-the-six-km-track owl.  In retrospect, I will never assume that "well, I've clearly filled my cool photo quota for the day" is a wise perspective to take.  Ah well.  Hopefully everybody will be out again soon.  Back to some pics.

 There were a lot of trees doubled over by the snow - and there had been one other person (and their dog) through on the trail since it had snowed last Friday for the first part of the 10km track.  It was beautiful.

In the forest and under the canopy, in some places there was no snow at all ... then I'd come into a clearing, and double wow.  One wow for the loveliness, and another for the deep drifts that I would be slugging through.  Good fun ... for a few kms, at least!

 

I hit the halfway point feeling pretty good.  Even with the deeper wading sections of snow and stopping for pictures, I was only about five or six minutes behind my usual pace.  

awesome watch from Jennie; awesome gloves also from Jennie; awesome jacket from Jennie ... "Awesome by Jennie" ... and hint of banana by my hungry self

Considering I'd been feeling sick at the end of last week, I probably should not have banked on feeling as great on the back five kms as I had on the way out, but hey, I've developed some confidence in my conditioning.  And with the exception of say, today, usually that confidence has been well-placed. 

the skinnies across the swamp, just past the 5km point

Underneath the snow, things were really pretty wet.  There was definitely some melting going on before it dropped down to the -1 or -2C we are sitting at currently ... and there was enough water sitting around that it hadn't succumbed to freezing yet.  Even taking the skinny bridges, my feet were soaked and squelchy for the rest of my run.  

It was about a kilometer after the bridges - at the point where the trail is furthest from Hemlingby and civilization - that I saw the lynx tracks, in amongst deer tracks, small dog tracks, some rodent tracks ... which as all of those animals = lynx food, it does make sense that one of the pretty kitties would also be in the vicinity.

again, thank you Google 'bilder'

It was also about this time that I realized being sick for a week, being a wee bit tired at the end of term, and running through some reasonably challenging conditions with soaking feet was beginning to catch up with me.  I grew zonked.  

Still, by the time you hit the 7km point it isn't too bad all the way back in ... especially when you can't help but hope that there might be a lynx around every corner ... and you realize for the billionth time how incredibly lucky you are to have a place like this just a few km from your haus.  Jennie looked at the picture of this stream and asked me where it was today; she has passed it on the trail dozens of times, but as it is right at the bottom of a tricky hill descent that shoots you right into a rugged rocky section, your attention can turn from one of those to the other without pausing to look at the stream in between.  It is a nice stream, though.

All in all, I had a really good day. 

And after stretching and some food I feel good, so I'll definitely be back out there again tomorrow.  Nice.  I've been experimenting with the number and weight of layers that I run in, and while I'm pleased with some changes I've made on the bottom half, I've been drenching myself on the upper half too often ... there's just such a balance between starting cold enough, and starting so cold that you just go from cold, to cold and slight wet, to really freezing.  Today I just went waaay over into soaking and freezing territory, so I need to work on that.  I'll try lighter top clothes morgon.

Oh yes, before we go: miracle oil behind door nummer tjugoett:

I have no idea what this miracle oil is supposed to do.  Guess I'll start lathering and find out.