rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,708
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 24, 2016 7:54:54 GMT -8
When I saw the tracks I almost turned around right there. I ended up continuing for a further 2mi, but sang loudly (and tunelessly) the entire way. I'm pretty sure that would have sent the cat looking for a new county to live in!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 18:44:33 GMT -8
My first close-up encounter with a mountain lion happened almost 18 years ago. I had spent maybe an hour tracking the lion in deep snow. Following his tracks off-trail in Black Elk Wilderness, I began climbing a short slope near some granite ledges. As I approached the area where the slope leveled off, I became very leery of my surroundings.
I could see the lion's tracks in a foot of snow only about 10 feet in front of me. Just beyond that was what appeared to be a large rock embedded into the soil in a dry area beneath a ledge. When I stopped to examine the tawny-colored "rock," I noticed that it moved, heaving upward a couple inches, then back down, and repeat.
Then I noticed that part of the "rock" was actually a furry, triangular ear . . . on a furry head . . . on a large, furry mountain lion . . . napping belly up in the sunlight about 25 feet away. The "rock" was breathing deeply as it slept.
I remember distinctly my next thoughts. They were, "Wow, I found it!" And then a few awe-struck moments later, "Oh, I don't think I want to wake this guy up." I was standing precariously in deep snow a few feet below the lion and an easy mountain-lion leap away from it.
I did wake it up evidently, but I managed to sneak oh-so-carefully away at the same time.
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tarol
Trail Wise!
Redding, CA
Posts: 582
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Post by tarol on Feb 25, 2016 3:16:39 GMT -8
Awesome. My two lion sightings were also brief. Once in Henry Coe State Park in Central CA I was hiking with a group, but had fallen behind due to blisters. It was raining earlier in the day, but the rain stopped but the fog seeped in. I looked up just in time to see a cat a couple of ridges over, it was walking away from me and disappeared. Couldn't quite tell if it was a bobcat or mountain lion, but it definitely moved like a cat, and now that I've seen more of both I think it was now a lion. Anyway, it freaked me out a little so I started waving my trekking poles around and talking loudly.
A few months ago I left my office in the evening, as I often did, just to walk around a little to enjoy the sunset and the forest for a few minutes before hitting the road for home. As I walked up from the ranger station I had just about reached the engine bay when something made me turn around. A lion disappeared into the brush about 100 feet behind me, caught just a glimpse. Again I was alone and freaked out so I started acting big and tough, lol
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Post by mtngrl on Mar 8, 2016 14:41:34 GMT -8
Sweeeeet! I have never seen a mountain lion. I want to see one of those and a wolverine. I have seen griz, black bear, moose, etc. in Alaska. Very cool sighting, hikerjer!
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Post by paula53 on Mar 8, 2016 17:54:04 GMT -8
I have seen 3. The first one was in the Virginia City Highlands. My husband and I were in the car, admiring a family of mustangs, we were pulled off the road. We went to turn around when we saw it. It was following the mustangs, and jumped the road when we were turning around. The second time we were on our way to Burnside Lake. We were slowly driving up the canyon towards the lake when we saw a large blond dog walking on the side of the road. When it swished it's tail, we realized, that's no dog, it's a mountain lion. The last time we were leaving Carson City, headed to Washoe Valley when we saw a dead lion that had been hit by a car. 3 sightings in 26 years of living in Nevada.
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Post by desertsp on Apr 28, 2016 15:23:10 GMT -8
Very jealous!
My only potential encounter was by myself at night on a trail in Boulder, CO about ten years ago. On my left down in a ravine, was a herd of deer, and on my right was a pair of eyes glowing in the beam of my flashlight. Not positive it was a cat since I couldn't actually see it's body, but a few weeks earlier I had found a found a kill (pile of bones and some fur) not 100 yards from there. It was pretty terrifying actually, and I quickly retreated keeping my flashlight trained on the glowing eyes, which stayed perfectly still the entire time.
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Post by mtngrl on May 16, 2016 13:09:37 GMT -8
Wow, excellent sighting! That was a very special day. I think that's fun that it is one of those things in your life that you will always remember.
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Post by atvtuner on May 16, 2016 16:36:52 GMT -8
When I looked across the draw, I saw a mountain lion laying down and calmly watching us. Jealousy! I've seen the tracks, I've seen the patch of fur in a blur through the brush. Seeing the Cat, that's special.
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desert dweller
Trail Wise!
Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
Posts: 6,291
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Post by desert dweller on May 16, 2016 17:48:31 GMT -8
I've only seen one. It was pouring rain in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico and we were topping a wooded ridge. Then from the underbrush right in front of us, less than 20 yards, we saw a beige streak running at full speed away from us. No time to react with the camera.
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