Winter for Sure

The second day of winter dawned at anywhere between - 6 C and -13 C, depending where you live in the Bella Coola Valley.  Fortunately the east wind has been relatively benign, thus making it somewhat pleasant to get out and enjoy the clear day.  Tonight, it's in the -6 or -8 C range and more cold is forecast.
 
Lots of animal tracks in the fresh skiff of snow we got on Sunday - the snowpack is hard enough in the areas of the valley with a measurable snowpack (mostly east of Snootli Creek), that even the deer can walk on the top.  Wolf, Fox and Marten tracks were all abundant during a sortie around the woods today.

Today's photo is the winter version of the Devil's Club plant I mentioned yesteday, this is the business end of the plant, just to give you an idea of what the spines look like under all those beautiful summer leaves. Grizzly