South cascade wolf tracks

[wags]

A friend just hiked from Chinook Pass to White Pass on the PCT. about halfway through the trip they encountered these tracks for a short distance along the trail.
I can't wait to see what happens when they finally make it to the western Washington lowlands and all the hobby farms. It should get really interesting and fun then.

[TheNoob]

I have talked to a few people that say they have seen them around the Packwood area. In the back parts of their fields in the early morning and said they were much bigger then Yotes and not domestic dogs.

[Cylvertip]

Nephew just came back from elk hunting up on the North side of the Monument.  He said he saw tracks up there.

[sirmissalot]

That would be a very small wolf. Even if you have huge hands. My lab has considerably larger paws than that.

[TeacherMan]

That's totally a wolf track! About 70 lbs most likely. Most wolves aren't the size of a St. Bernard.

[Bigshooter]

That's totally a wolf track! About 70 lbs most likely. Most wolves aren't the size of a St. Bernard.

Is there a way to tell the difference between a 70 lbs dog and a 70 lbs wolf track?

[mfswallace]

PCT trail = 99% dog 

[Dan-o]

That's totally a wolf track! About 70 lbs most likely. Most wolves aren't the size of a St. Bernard.

Is there a way to tell the difference between a 70 lbs dog and a 70 lbs wolf track?

I was wondering the same thing.

(I don't know enough to know if you can tell them apart, but it would be interesting.)

[Magnum_Willys]

looks like a dog.... ?

[TeacherMan]

Generally a wolf track will be narrower than a dog. When I'm on my trapline I also look at what the track is doing. A wolf generally won't stay on the trail (at least in my area) more than 50 yds without darting off a side trail. A dog run off and on a trail but always comes right back.

That's totally a wolf track! About 70 lbs most likely. Most wolves aren't the size of a St. Bernard.

Is there a way to tell the difference between a 70 lbs dog and a 70 lbs wolf track?

I was wondering the same thing.

(I don't know enough to know if you can tell them apart, but it would be interesting.)

[danderson]

Here's a wolf track from the Teanaway, my guess would be dog track that you found on the trail, I just hiked from Stampeed Pass to White Pass on the PCT seen a few outfitters with dogs in tow.

[TeacherMan]

Here's a wolf track from the Teanaway, my guess would be dog track that you found on the trail, I just hiked from Stampeed Pass to White Pass on the PCT seen a few outfitters with dogs in tow.

.
Very classic dog track. Look how the toes are splayed out.

[jasnt]

One way to tell a wolf track is the front pad is chevron shaped. But most of the time the back foot steps on the front foot track. Back feet are little smaller than front feet.  Sometimes you have to track them a ways till the step just right and back foot misses front track.

[JakeLand]

I say wolf track on Wags post narrow and more compact not splayed out like a fat domestic dog IMO or just a record book yote   

[wags]

When I originally posted this picture I didn't include the entire story. My friend and his two sons, all of them avid hunters and one of them a trapper since the 80's were about halfway between Chinook Pass and White Pass. The weather had been rainy and miserable, the only people they saw during the trip were a couple of bear hunters near Chinook Pass and a couple of hikers down near White Pass. It had rained all night, they got up, began hiking and ran across these tracks a short time later. The tracks followed the trail a short ways then disappeared. The trail was very muddy, no recent human tracks within  miles.
I think a stray dog in that location would be more than a little unlikely.