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One morning around 5AM a couple of years ago, I was driving to a trail head on the east side of the LaSals outside of Moab and had a mountain lion b-line it out of the trees and run diagonally across the highway right in front of me. It looked like it may have been scared off by something or someone at a nearby house.
That was the closest I've come to seeing a big cat in the backcountry until a bobcat slowly ambled through the yard of the house our family was renting in the mountains on the west side of Tucson this winter and paused briefly to lick its chops and look at us through the living room window - In the moment it was a bit alarming, but in retrospect it was so cool!
Kai
"I want to keep the mountains clean of racism, religion and politics. In the mountains this should play no role."
- Joe Stettner
"I haven't climbed Everest, skied to the poles, or sailed single-handed around the world. The goals I set out to accomplish aren't easily measured or quantified by world records or "firsts." The reasons I climb, and the climbs I do, are about more than distance or altitude, they are about breaking barriers within myself."
nsaladin wrote:A few years back on the Yankee Boy Basin road at about 1:00am in the morning I was heading up to do Sneffels the next day and happened to stumble across Brett Maune on his attempt to beat Andrews FKT and stopped and chatted with him about his long day (C-Basin, Wilsons, Sneffels)... Shortly after talking to him and heading up the road, we saw (pretty damn sure) a Lion stalking or following Brett's route down the road. The way the eyes moved in the headlights of my truck made it like no other mammal I have seen at night, and was very very cat-like. Cat was probably around 1 mile behind Brett when we saw it.
Too bad you all couldn't have shot the mountain lion to get Brett some meat to eat. Then he wouldn't have needed that now-world famous chicken sandwich.
"Thy righteousness is like the great mountains."
Psalm 36:6
nsaladin wrote:A few years back on the Yankee Boy Basin road at about 1:00am in the morning I was heading up to do Sneffels the next day and happened to stumble across Brett Maune on his attempt to beat Andrews FKT and stopped and chatted with him about his long day (C-Basin, Wilsons, Sneffels)... Shortly after talking to him and heading up the road, we saw (pretty damn sure) a Lion stalking or following Brett's route down the road. The way the eyes moved in the headlights of my truck made it like no other mammal I have seen at night, and was very very cat-like. Cat was probably around 1 mile behind Brett when we saw it.
Too bad you all couldn't have shot the mountain lion to get Brett some meat to eat. Then he wouldn't have needed that now-world famous chicken sandwich.
benlen wrote:Y'all say that, but wait until you're solo and encounter one hiking or skiing. And then watch this. I'm not saying it isn't a cool experience, but I don't relish.
I was solo.
Anyway, in the last 20 years, there have been three fatal mountain lion attacks in the US. This compared to about 440 deaths by attacks from cows.
Tempelton wrote:I had a staring contest with a bobcat on top of Mt. Sanitas once though. I didn't feel very threatened by it... too small to drag me off for lunch.
What makes you think it was planning on doing so in just one trip?
Max saw the lion first. He was a big tom cat. I could tell because he was less than 40 feet away. Max was my chocolate lab. He was on leash, but he always wanted to chase the rabbits, mule deer and coyotes. He didn't want to chase the lion though. He just pointed. We had run the 4 miles up the Mt. Falcon (in Morrison near Red Rocks) main trail from the lower parking area to the upper parking area. I stopped in the bathroom before heading down. It was just starting to get light. I used to run Mt. Falcon every Saturday and liked to get to the top when the sun was coming up. I often saw the chewed up deer legs near the trail, but had never seen a mountain lion. When I came out of the bathroom I headed downhill, but Max was looking the other way. We surprised the lion when we came out of the bathroom and he just stopped in the middle of the trail and stared at us. This was several years ago, before cell phones had cameras but I had a small camera in my fanny pack. We often saw turkeys, mule deer, elk other wildlife. I held the leash and kept an eye on the lion as I tried to get the camera out. He walked on before I could get a picture. As others have said, this was one of my most memorable moments. Every hair on my head was standing out and I felt more alive at that few seconds than any time I can remember before or since. I didn't get the pic, but my wife is an accomplished water color artist. I had her come up the next day and take a picture of Max and me at the same spot. She painted the picture and just added in a lion from another photo. The watercolor is one of my favorite possessions. As for Max, he tried to bite a couple of people after that. He was friendly with almost everyone, but he didn't like anyone who he thought was a threat to the family. I spent several hundred dollars on dog behavorial specialists who said they could change his habit, but they couldn't. I had to put Max down and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. He was 110# with not one ounce of fat. He loved to run the trails and climb the mountains. He was in his prime. Some people think that there are dogs in heaven. If there are, I'll be looking for Max.
rquayle wrote:Max saw the lion first. He was a big tom cat. I could tell because he was less than 40 feet away. Max was my chocolate lab. He was on leash, but he always wanted to chase the rabbits, mule deer and coyotes. He didn't want to chase the lion though. He just pointed. We had run the 4 miles up the Mt. Falcon (in Morrison near Red Rocks) main trail from the lower parking area to the upper parking area. I stopped in the bathroom before heading down. It was just starting to get light. I used to run Mt. Falcon every Saturday and liked to get to the top when the sun was coming up. I often saw the chewed up deer legs near the trail, but had never seen a mountain lion. When I came out of the bathroom I headed downhill, but Max was looking the other way. We surprised the lion when we came out of the bathroom and he just stopped in the middle of the trail and stared at us. This was several years ago, before cell phones had cameras but I had a small camera in my fanny pack. We often saw turkeys, mule deer, elk other wildlife. I held the leash and kept an eye on the lion as I tried to get the camera out. He walked on before I could get a picture. As others have said, this was one of my most memorable moments. Every hair on my head was standing out and I felt more alive at that few seconds than any time I can remember before or since. I didn't get the pic, but my wife is an accomplished water color artist. I had her come up the next day and take a picture of Max and me at the same spot. She painted the picture and just added in a lion from another photo. The watercolor is one of my favorite possessions. As for Max, he tried to bite a couple of people after that. He was friendly with almost everyone, but he didn't like anyone who he thought was a threat to the family. I spent several hundred dollars on dog behavorial specialists who said they could change his habit, but they couldn't. I had to put Max down and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. He was 110# with not one ounce of fat. He loved to run the trails and climb the mountains. He was in his prime. Some people think that there are dogs in heaven. If there are, I'll be looking for Max.
Years ago when I was driving around the west for the first time with a friend, we were coming down Pikes Peak Highway at dusk and three juvenile mountain lions crossed the road and stopped in the light of my headlights to look at us. For a split second I thought they were coyotes, then I looked closer and couldn't believe my eyes. They casually strolled to the other side of the road and jumped up a small embankment. I was so excited that I grabbed my camera and ran after them. Suddenly I realized that 1) there were three of them 2) it was getting dark and they see better in the dark than I do 3) Mom was probably out there somewhere ready to protect her older cubs...maybe. 4) It was too dark to get a decent picture without a flash. I ran back to the car hopped in, slammed the door and locked it. My friend sat there laughing at me. Hey, I was young and stupid and from the east.
My second encounter was in my own front yard on Red Rock Ranch near Monument. It was October of 2012 I think. At about 10:30 PM my two dogs were barking much louder than normal out in their very large pen. I was afraid our neighbor would complain so I grabbed a flashlight and ran out into the pen to see what all of the commotion was about. My dogs were behind a rock formation in their pen and were barking their collective heads off. When I got behind the rock formation I saw that they were intensely staring and barking in one direction. I looked in that direction and saw a mountain lion just outside of their pen about 6 feet away from the fence. I flashed the flashlight in it's eyes, jumped up and down waving my hands and yelling along with the barking dogs. We made so much noise that I think the lion couldn't stand it. He or she ran off. I haven't seen another one in our yard since then but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. There are quite a few deer on Red Rock Ranch and deer is the favorite food of mountain lions.
Namaste
Sue
Saw one on Mt. Sanitas while training for the summer a few years back. My wife and I watched it for a few minutes before it became spooked and ran off the other way. I warned a few hikers who had their dogs off leash on their way down, only to be met with, "Are you sure it was a lion?"
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
A dog in Colorado had too close of an encounter with a mountain lion last week and had to be saved by her owners in a rescue captured on surveillance video.
The 3-year-old Boxer/Labrador mix named "Maeby" went outside the family home in Nederland, located about 44 miles west of Denver, when it ran into a mountain lion.
"The mountain lion jumped out and pounced on her," owner Charlie Allen told FOX 31 on Wednesday.
Family members then raced outside to save her, including one with a shovel.
After taking a few bites out of Maeby, the mountain lion then let the dog get away and back into the house.
The big cat then slowly lingered near the home as Allen flickered a flashlight at it to drive the animal away.
- In the moment it was a bit alarming, but in retrospect it was so cool!
