This was a few days back. I just got the pics and I thought I would share.
I headed up the mountain for a few days.
I was up on this ridge and found that track in the pic below. That is a HUGE blacktail track. SOO, I decide to track it. I spent all day following this things tracks and night started to creep up. I was so far back in this valley I decided it would be better to bed down rather than go back. I have made the mistake of trying to get back to camp in the dark and I usually get lost and end up sleeping out anyway. Just before dark I heard teeth knocking and growling. I looked up a tree close by and two cubs were climbing fast to the top. I couldnt see the mother and I was kinda worried. I took a quick picture and left them alone and hoped momma wouldnt come around. I found a good spot, built a fire and fell asleep. At around 4am I heard a horrible screaming sound from very close by. It was a mountain lion on the ridge screaming and growling at me. Needless to say I didnt sleep much that night. The next morning I continued to follow this bucks tracks and by now I was at least a days walk back to my truck. I abandoned the track and headed back. It took me all day to get to the valley where my truck and camp were. I had to hike down a huge ridge and by this time it was 1:30am. Totally exhausted, I shined my light into the pitch black and there was my truck. I have never been so happy to see my Toyota.




I imagine a few Yotatech people will know what those little leaves are.
I had to dodge that crap most of one night which is almost impossible.

My truck in the dark!!!

 

Nice lol hopefully your equipted with a sidearm, only way I go out here too many cougers.

 

Never heard a cougar scream, but I hear it chills you to the bone. I know I wouldn't have slept much after that. Gun or no gun.

 

Man, that sucks about the poison oak. But it easily has the best looking fall colors around Northern California. But that's the thing, it looks nice, but don't touch it. I've had to pee on the side of the road before, and noticed that I was standing in a BIG bush of it.

 

OAK!!! OMG!!! POISON OAK EVERYONE!!! That stuff is the ga-nar-nar of gnarly. I was in NORCAL for the first time in my life this summer fighting fire, and we ended up having to cut a firebreak through poison oak that was 6-8 feet tall. The oils from that stuff got into our sleeping bags, Nomex, gloves, shoelaces, etc...

If you apply teatree oil to a really bad poison oak rash it works wonders. Of course, teatree oil costs 15-20 bucks for about 2-3 ounces, but worth every penny if you are beginning to scratch your face off. Technu brand is a good cleanser for that stuff, and they also make a pre-contact lotion you can put on if you are preparing to be exposed.

Glad to hear you had a nice hike. Judging by the (30-06???) round, i`m sure you were the scarier of critters running around in the woods that night...

You really gotta make sure never to get poison oak on your cajones...

PS-- Don`t ever be downwind of burning poison oak.

 

i frickin hate poison oak!

i get it almost every year i go hunting lol.

 

oh hell yeah it scares the bejeezus out of you when you hear a cougar scream.

 

just get her alone in a bedroom...

as for poison oak, i can hike all day through it in shorts and never itch once...
i guess im not allergic to it...

 

Im the same way with Oak and Ivy...dosent break me out at all.

When i was growin up we used to have a cougar that occupied the area near where I lived. And no matter how many times I heard it...it always scared the poo out of me. He used to make his presence known about once or twice a month whie he was patroling his territory. We had seen him, taken pictures of him, and even got to pick up the remains of his kills when he got one of our calves. Yet the Department of Enviromental Conservation here adimatly denied that there was one in the area. You know they didnt want to start a mass hysteria...lol.

 

Here kitty-kitty-kitty... Big cats are pretty cool, i`d rather be around them instead of a bear w/cubs anyday.

 

Been there, the hell with that...

Wow, that's made even worse if its hot outside, and you have to walk, or do anything at all.

On a side note, for preventing poison oak, if exposure is probable, or highly likely, you need to use some sunscreen, or even PAM, or straight vegetable oil. The oil will act as a barrier and won't let the poison oak oils to penetrate, and bind to your skin. Cover all parts of your body that may be directly exposed (IE hands, arms, legs, face)

Also, if you know you have been exposed to the poison oak, go out and buy some Fels Naptha soap. It's fairly inexpensive, and will remove all oils from the poison oak. Just use it like a regular bar of soap, and rinse well. I have also used it to treat the rash, which seems to work fairly well at that also. I normally get poison oak for 7-21 days straight, and the Fels Naptha reduces that to 3-10 days.

Another thing to reduce itching, and inflammation caused by the poison oak rash is to take Bennadrill (sp?) antihistamine.

 

Wow...you are one crazy dude. You looked like you were all alone out there. Then you see bears and hear a cougar! I could only imagine. I'm guessing you didn't kill anything?

 

Nope!! For over 30 miles of hiking in 3 days you would think.
Seeing bears in B zone California is VERY common if you are quiet and they don't smell you. Seeing lions is very rare. I have only seen 6 lions in 30 years of hiking around these mountains. I see on average 3 Bobcats a year.