[pct-l] The Mountain Lion Phantom at Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) - long

[Jim Keener]

Greetings:

I have seen more wildlife in three days at  PRNS than
in three months on the Pacific Crest Trail. A golden
eagle, coyotes, quail, bobcats aplenty, great egrets,
rabbits, elk,  three kind of deer, raccoons, many blue
herrons and a mountain lion. 

I had been hiking at PRNS for several years and one
day while I was on Coast Trail nearing Coast Camp, it
occurred to me that though I had seen quite a lot of
what I thought was mountain lion scat, I had seen no
kill. So of course I crossed a bridge and came upon a
deer which had been half-eaten from behind. A local
ranger told me it was probably mountain lion kill, as
they were the only predators big enough to take down a
deer that size and that they tend to eat from behind.
A few months later I was near the same spot and saw a
mountain lion on the trail. Sitting down. "Cool," I
thought and grabbed my camera. Then the fear hit.
Blurry picture. After a lifetime (about 30 seconds),
the lion headed off the trail. I put an extended
trekking pole in one hand and a knife with a 4" blade
(open) in the other. I had a backpack on and felt
fairly well protected.

And then on a moonlit night Holly and Elizabeth, from
Portland, were camping with me at Coast Camp. And one
of the famous hikes from there is a trek up the
Woodward Valley trail. Spectacular views of the ocean
in the moonlight. On the way back, as we approached
the site where I had seen the half-eaten deer, I was
telling them about it, trying to, well, scare them. It
worked. Just as we got to the spot there was a big
rustling sound in the bushes, and I was hoping it was
a deer. I put one of my friends on each side of me,
and we turned on our headlights and shined it down the
trail. The eyes which reflected back were too low for
a deer. I asked Holly to step behind me and lead us
back to camp, while Elizabeth and I continued to face
the animal on the trail. We made it.

The next morning as we hiked by that spot, we saw
shiny new scat about 10" long where we had seen the
animal. I think we scared the cr at p out of a mountain
lion. Predator or phantom? The rangers at park
headquarters said that there was a moutain lion which
hunted near that creek. I warned you it was a long
story.

Best,
J J

http://electricpath.com
http://persuasiongraphics.com


 
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