Today was a beautiful day for a hike. Bright and sunny. Not much wind until nearing the peak, at which time I donned my Go Lite wind breaker. I saw snow up on the hills on the way to the peak so I took a route that would avoid most of the snow. On the way I saw 3 groups of deer, one crossing Highway 79 near the lake, and the next two groups crossed Milk Ranch Road in front of me as I was hiking up that way. A group of turkey crossed the same dirt road going the other way. As I continued my hike, I saw scrub jay, a pair of huge ravens, some turkey buzzards and a tiny blue bird. I prefer to hike with others, but because I was alone today, I was able to see the animal life before they saw and avoided me. Once on the peak access road I ran into other hikers. The magic of the day stayed with me as we shared our stories.