On one of our many cross country ski trips along the Glacier Point Road in Yosemite National Park, we camped near Sentinel Dome late at night and didn't awaken until late the next morning. As we were lying in our tent, we heard an animal trotting through the snow around us. We looked outside and saw this coyote approach us as though he was expecting us to give him a handout. Eventually he moved in closer and laid down in the snow and waited to see what we would do. He was only about ten feet away. While he waited, a second coyote bounded in and the two of them chased each other around until they both ran off.
Actually we were a little concerned that the coyote might run off with a piece of our gear. The night before as we were skiing in we encountered a couple of skiers heading out at about 3 A.M. They told us that they had encountered a coyote a couple of hours earlier when they had stopped for a rest break. The coyote was trying to get some food from them and they responded by throwing snowballs at him to shoo him away. Eventually the coyote gave up, but not before grabbing one of their ski poles and running off with it. The two skiers who told us this story asked us to keep an eye out for their friend who was trailing behind them. As we continued skiing in, we encountered the other skier, who was using a roadside marker as a not-very-effective replacement ski pole, about twenty minutes later. We let him know how far behind his friends he was and he thanked us and then said that he would do that coyote in, if he ever caught him.
Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.
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