There is still nearly 200 inches of snow in the mountains although the valleys are filled with spring blossoms of daffodils, crocus, snow drops and camellia. We threw out snow shoes in the pick-up and headed for the east side of Mount Hood for a day in the snowy back country. "Let drive out through the Columbia River Gorge", my friend Anthony suggested. "We may get lucky and spot the Trumpeter Swans that frequently over winter near the river." Luck was with us for we did spot Trumpeters in a pond just beyond Crown Point. The Trumpeter is the largest of swans in the world and the largest North American waterfowl. Once nearly extinct they have made a recovery. The Trumpeter is entirely white but sometimes their heads are stained red brown from feeding in water with iron. Leaving these beautiful birds was hard but the snow beckoned. An hour into our snow shoe trek with snow falling out of the sky we attracted the attention of three Gray Jays. They stay in the mountains all winter having learned to survive in snow country. Beautifully toned in black, white and shades of gray they followed us as we crunched through the snow. The Jays flitted from tree to tree approaching ever closer until the three birds landed on a small fir ten feet away from us. "All right. Just a little bit", I said and reached into my jacket pocket for my sandwich. Tearing off a few bits of bread I extended my hand into the air with bread crumbs in my open palm. Quickly flying into my hand each jay grabbed a crumb and flew back to its tree. With no more "people food" forth coming the jays flew off but the sweet, tactile memory of their little feet in my hand remained with me the rest of the day.
