An account in Jefferson County, Washington

We were on the Spruce Trail in the Hoh Rainforest when we came across this track (I attached the picture). To provide some size reference I put my foot next to the track. My boot is a size 11.5 (wide). It's a Vasque boot and I'm sure the dimensions are available online. Anyways, my boot was slightly smaller than the track (maybe 1/2 inch). The trail was full of Elk tracks as well. Adult Elk and baby Elk tracks were present everywhere and signs were posted about the Elk. There are many game trails that crisscross these hiking trails. Later on we continued on the trail and we came across another foot print that was slightly smaller but it had been stepped on by someone and it was only a partial print. Here are some details I gathered from my observation that day. The track in the picture appeared to be about two days old in my opinion. I weigh 210 lbs, I'm 6"1 and my boot size is a size 11.5 (wide). The track had to be an inch and a half deep. I stood on one leg and pushed very hard and I didn't leave nearly (maybe a 1/4 inch) as deap of a track. Granted the moisture level may have changed in the mud causing more resistance. Also noted was the outer edge of the print and how much mud had been displaced. I also saw sharp nail marks on the toes and some say they can see it in the photo I attached. I noticed them because earlier in the day I saw a cougar track at another location and the nail marks seemed similar. I can tell by the way the toes are slanted, the depth, and the arch that this is likely not a fake print. I couldn't see any dermal ridges in the track.