As snows cover the grasslands and forested hills, we can explore snowy tracks for a quiet, Leave No Trace hike, leaving only footprints, which will be gone with the next snowfall.    On a grey and cold December day I hiked tracks past Edith Lake at the upper end of grasslands, next to aspen groves and douglas fir forests.    There was no one else out.     I spotted deer and coyote tracks, following a loop route I had done before at this time of the year.

There are some old homestead buildings still standing in the Edith Hills area.

The lakes were frozen over,  but was too early to cross the ice, so skirted the shoreline and headed back to the forest tracks.

Pastures were covered in snow.    No human tracks were spotted on this route.

The low winter sun occasionally broke through, but the winds blew falling snow and fog across the forests, fields, and backcountry tracks.

This was another solo hike, one I had done before and will plan for next year, probably in December again.   There are a number of routes in the area that can be hiked in the winter when conditions are right.

No specific directions are provided here, on purpose.   DAS