Aki is uneasy this morning. She throws on her brakes just before stepping onto the old Basin Road trestle bridge. Another dog passes us on to way to Perseverance Trail and my little dog trots after her. Aki halts after we cross the bridge. Hoping that she will change her mind again, I ignore her and search the slopes of Mt. Juneau for mountain goats. If there, they should be easy to spot in the strong sunlight illuminating the mountainside. I can’t find them. The snow that fell on the ridges last night must have driven them down toward the creek. Maybe they found some fresh greens in a place hidden from our view.

The little dog starts up the road after a few minutes but shows little interest in my plan to climb to the Perseverance overlook. She must smell scents left by a passing bear. In a normally year, I’d attribute her shyness to something else but since I can spot other signs of spring, it would not be surprising to find a bear emerging from winter hibernation. Already the alder limbs are bent down with blossoms and fuzzy catkins decorate the willows.