What have you seen?

[carolyn]

okay, I am revin' up for my trip to the NW...I finally have my flight worked out and I will be leaving in a few weeks!

(can you just see my eyes sparkling?-THREE weeks away and free to explore a new world)

Anyway, I was wondering what are some memorable things people have seen while they have climbed or been out hiking? What can I look forward to?

Even though I am not in the NW now, I would be happy to start with some memorable sites I have seen over the past few years while out and about.

*Whitewater rafting on the Colorado River. Looking up into the hills and seeing a mountain goat (or sheep as they insist to be called) on a ledge, with a black bear hanging out right underneath. INCREDIBLE Kodak moment! Too bad I didnt have a camera

*Running into my first bear in Colorado. *giggle* The first few times I went up to N. Minnesota to camp, we would make sure we left our garbage out and sit outside all bundled up waiting for a bear! (I know, thats BAD:P Now I hang my food up high and PRAY I wont have a visit). I FINALLY saw one as I was starting a leisurely walk in Colorado Springs. Darn thing was ready to hit the dumpster. Fortunately it ran after I yelled at it. I forcefully retreated back to where I was staying.

*Camping on a lake in the boundary waters, a friend of mine and I started howling to see if there were wolves nearby. I will NEVER forget the magical sound when they started howling back. It was definately a LARGE pack, and nearby

*Knowing a bear was on a trail I was hiking last week, I whistled and sang all the way. For some reason I started whistling a silly song about five birds as I took a break. Honest to god, five little birds flew around me and hung out on a Pine tree next to me, singing along.

*Speaking of birds- After hiking up to Hanging Lake in Co. I had a bird decide it needed to hang out with me. It sat on the limb of a tree next to me, moved to the bench next to my arm, and eventually to my shoulder. People kept staring at me. But this beautiful blue bird was keeping me good company.

*Ice climbing in a nearby site. I was soooo damn focused on throwing the axes right (one of my first times out), when someone I had seen there before said, isnt this a beautiful day. I remember turning around and looking at the valley and the snow lingering down. It reminded me that my technique was not so important. What was important was feeling how beautiful my surroundings were and enjoying it!

 

Im going to leave it at that for now.

Im excited to hear what others have seen!

be well,

be safe,

carolyn

[This message has been edited by carolyn (edited 08-10-2001).]

[freeclimb9]

bears, mountain lions, ring-tailed cats, coatimundis, parrots, bobcats, lots of rattlesnakes, bats, bees, even a few gila monsters. The wierdest wildlife experience was being attacked by a falcon while hiking through the forest near Yosemite falls; The crazed bird swooped on me half a dozen times over a half-mile length of trail: I was gripped. The most hilarious experiences have been inadvertently interupting folks mid-coitus, or having a wank. You know, I love nature and all, but I don't LOVE nature.

[ScottP]

A completely naked, beautiful woman sponge bathing herself on the shore of upper canyon creek lakes in the Trinity Alps of N CA.

We were approaching stonehouse wall and were stunned by the sight. As we walked past, she nonchalantly said, "Hello."

[Noway]

North Cascades, Mt. Rainier NP, Olympic NP, what can I say. If you make this far west, words cannot explain what you're missing.

[pope]

Dwayner and I are nearly certain we saw a wolf yesterday on Stevens Peak, MRNP. Also, I once watched three Norwegian girls running naked by moon light, through the sprinklers at the Hwy. 2 rest area near Lake Wenatchee. Hey Rob, remember?

[michaeljosephnozel]

Having a mountain goat greet you at the base of Snow Creek Wall; then again at the top. (In the summertime, while they are "shedding," it is fairly easy to differentiate them by unique hairless areas).

[mattp]

MJN reports seeing a friendly goat at Snow Creek Wall. Its fun to see these guys, but they are mostly after your pee and they can get rather aggressive about it. I'd recommend carrying your ice axe with you if you are going out for a pee in the night, and there are any steep slopes nearby. I'm not kidding!

[michaeljosephnozel]

Very true, mattp, these goats are QUITE aggressive for the salt in urine. At the top of Outer Space, I took a piss, and this goat seemed to be irked about it. He started moving toward us (we were reasonably concerned about the 800' drop off behind us), but as we moved aside, his interest remained on my piss. At first I thought he was unsettled by my "marking" of his territory, but later recalled it was the salt he was after. He kept about a 25-30' buffer prior to my urinating, but got VERY close afterwards.

Still, it was an entertaining phenomenon that we met him at the base, and the top.

[Retrosaurus]

While whe're talking about it; when you get to the top of OS and take a leak, remember not to piss on any vegatation or even soil, or you might as well be taking a rototiller to it as the goats will tear it up and it will all erode with the next rain or blow away with the next strong wind as the soil dries.

[dbb]

After following bear trails on an approach all day in the Coast range, we suddenly came upon a bear den. A bear den with a severed bear arm and bloddy skull! Apparently Canadian bears have the right to "bear" arms.

[bobinc]

Right now the meteor showers are spectacular. I never get tired of the flowers and observing the marmots, either.

[pope]

Yes, the alpine meadows certainly are showing off right now. Upon observing the enchanting floral displays on the slopes of Stevens Peak, Dwayner described Friday how he felt emotionally and spiritually transported, out of the Tatoosh Range and

"...straight into a Julie Andrews movie." Whether compelled by the Salzburgian beauty of MRNP, or perhaps under the influence of the sixer of Mickey's he insisted on packing, Dwayner frolicked through the heather, lupine, lillies and paintbrush, all the while singing his favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein standards. "When you're sixteen, going on seventeen,..."

[mattp]

In the North Cascades, the flowers are still spectcular in the alpine areas, though beginning to fade. Next come the huckleberries.

[Dru]

On Needle Peak, climbing out of the clouds, blue sky, wind crusted snow everywhere... sun blasted my shadow out onto the clouds and there it was .... the Brocken Spectre.

I had been looking for that thing for 8 years!

[Mr._Blister]

Getting stoned and hand-feeding wild iguanas on a small, uninhabited island near the island of Exuma in the Bahamas. Swimming with green sea turtles (and briefly riding one) while snorkeling off Maui. Picking up a rattlesnake in camp in S. Utah on the San Juan River and letting him go in the river. Tripping on mushrooms in J Tree and getting face-to-face with tarantulas and desert tortoises.

[EddieE]

My favorite mental pics...

- watching Mt. Stuart turn red in the light of a setting sun

- turning the corner after the gap above Camp Muir and seeing the Northern Lights in the distance for the first time.

- soaking my feet and watching my partner's dog play in the Icicle after a long, hot day of climbing.

- the sheer size of Mt. Rainier every time I fly over it. I'm still impressed each time I see it from the air.

[mattp]

Seeing the sun come up, from a cold bivouac near the summit of South Howser Tower many years ago has to be one of my most memorable experiences. My brother and I had just completed the biggest climb eithier of us had ever done up to that point, and the Bugaboos was the most alpine thing I had ever seen. We had been very cold huddling there, our feet in the rucksack and sitting on the rope, but the excitement of the climb and the beauty of that dawn were so great that we didn't dislike the experience, even in the moment.

[terrible_ted]

Last month - two fighting squirrels fell out of the tree I was hiking past. They rolled around on the ground in front of me scuffling, then one of them bolted off, right up my leg! He stopped about halfway up my thigh, just long enough for me to whack him with a trekking pole.

So failed the first squirrel summit attempt of Mt Ted...

-t

[Jman]

Seeing the Milky Way stretch from horizon to horizon, casting a soft light on all the surrounding hills in the Seven Lakes Basin (Olympics) on a hot September night. And then watching the blinding full moon rise and totally illuminate everything.

[hakioawa]

This weekend a humming bird mistook my nose for a flower and tried to extract some "nectar" from my left nostril.

[freak]

seeing the specter of brocken or what ever that phenomenon is called, twice right befor a hanus stormy bivy, then wakeing up in the morn above it all!! Plus Ive seen too many tick marks at swiftwater.

[Chepe]

I didnt see them but heard the bats swooping by my ears saturday night while gazing up into the skies in the enchantments while bivied up on a tiny ledge about a thousand feet on the route.

[Lambone]

I saw a big horse fly rise from the dead after I smacked it ten feet away. It changed my life. You can do anything! But I guess I couldn't kill a fly.

[Dru]

Yea-aw! Brother Lambone now gonna LAY ON THE HANDS and Brother Horsefly gonna rise from the Dead! Halleluyaw brother! Can I get an A-MEN? I cant hear yuh! Lowder! A-men!

[nolanr]

I've had a few memorable critter encounters. Just this weekend, on the Deception Pass/Cathedral Pass Loop, saw 4 pine martens hanging out in a tree. Cute buggers. I think they were juveniles, I doubt adults are so social.

Saw a weasel slinking along a boulder field where moments before I had heard and seen pika.

Had a couple of up close and personal encounters w/ mountain goats (w/in 10-15 ft.), once by Kangaroo Temple and once by Yellowjacket Spire. None of them got aggressive.

Had a marmot take a test bite on the toe of my boot, WHILE I WAS WEARING IT!

Saw the tail of a cougar disappearing into brush alongside the Mt. Loop Highway.

At twilight at a high lake in the Wallowas in NE Oregon watched trout rising up to the surface and bats skimming along right above the water surface, double teaming the legions of bastard blood sucking mosquitos.

Lots of good scenery, too. Hope you have a great trip and the weather stays nice for you.