It is already cooling off, as the late afternoon sun starts its descent into the western horizon. Hiking into the Book Cliffs to my tree stand, I notice my tracks from coming out in the dark the night before. I feel a prickling at the back of my neck as I stoop down and trace with my fingers the big bear tracks right on top of mine. The heft of my bow feels good as my grip tightens and I continue walking down the trail.
Arriving at the ancient, gnarly ponderosa pine, I carefully climb into the tree stand and settle in.