Lassen – OR-7

Before I put my legs away for the winter, I wanted to get in a quick overnight with lots of miles in between. Fortune smiled down on me and my wife’s scheduled fishing trip allowed her to drop me off near the north end of Lassen Park and pick me up the next day, 26 miles later, at the southern end.

My campsite was at Snag Lake and not a soul was around. Around dusk I heard what I thought was a coyote calling for his pack, but it sounded different. He was on the other side of the lake so I didn’t think much of it.

The next morning I was up early and headed up the trail for Horseshoe Lake and found this:

Photo (right) of OR-7, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

At first I thought it was a dog that someone brought illegally into the Park, but I realized it was a fresh track as I would see the imprint over old boot prints all the way up the trail. I started to have an idea this might be OR-7, the lone wolf that traveled down from Oregon looking for mate. I knew he had a collar so they could track him, but had to wait a few days for them to publish his whereabouts on the website. They don’t want anyone to know where he currently is, only where he’s been.

Sure enough, he was very near me the night I was there. Very cool.