[pct-l] Planning First Solo Hike

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On May 25, 2010, at 3:22 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> It?s common for cougars to follow people just out of curiosity,  
> with no
> malice aforethought.? Once on the PCT near Mt. Rainier I was  
> following about
> 5 minutes behind another hiker when I saw 7? dia. cougar prints in  
> the dust
> on top of the other hiker?s tracks.? I hurried ahead but I couldn?t  
> catch up
> to see the cat.? Later when I encountered the same hiker he said he  
> had no
> idea he had been followed.

I really think that bears and mountain lions, being large like people  
are, simply find the trails convenient to walk on. In the mountains  
behind Santa Barbara, Trailhacker and I have cleared trails of brush  
and seen fresh tracks soon after. Often the only tracks you'll see in  
our backcountry are of lions and bears. It seems Trailhacker's trail  
hacking is appreciated at least by them.

I have also seen a mountain lion, but I saw it while walking along a  
road. It was sitting on a rock promontory like a scene from the Lion  
King. On the PCT I saw a bob cat. Meow meow. Cats are way better than  
dogs. I saw pitbulls like Wendy and Jim did on Aqueduct day, but they  
didn't look friendly at all. I carried rocks in my hands just in  
case. Dogs scare me. I've been bitten a few times. I don't need to  
carry a heavy gun when rocks and sticks are at my disposal almost  
anywhere.

Books I've written:
~ Piper's Flight
~ Adventure and Magic
~ Santa Barbara Hikes
http://stores.lulu.com/dianesoini