Verticolorful Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 Just a friendly bit of information to anyone planning on traveling into the Stuart/Colchuck side of the Enchantments; I encountered tracks traveling along the trail a short distance before the intersection to travel to stuart or colchuck this morning. I was traveling alone otherwise it would not have been as big of a deal. I know cougar tracks are not certain death but just passing it along. And the snow is almost knee deep up there Quote
alpine et Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 How was access up there? Still driveable to the Colchuck Lake trailhead? I guess those trailheads are open again since their fire closures earlier? Quote
Verticolorful Posted October 26, 2012 Author Posted October 26, 2012 Yes the gate is open again, so you can drive up to the trailhead. There is about 5 inches of snow in the parking lot and it gradually increases as you gain elevation. I drove me front wheel drive dodge neon up there. its lightly snowing right now Quote
stevetimetravlr Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 There are allot of cougars around nowadays out in the woods. Probably more then we think. Check out this link and photo from the Wenatchee area... http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/regional/hunter-gets-photo-of-eight-mountain-lions-congregating-in-central/article_20f2a6fe-3ad5-11e0-bbd7-001cc4c03286.html Quote
rob Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 There are allot of cougars around nowadays out in the woods. Probably more then we think. Check out this link and photo from the Wenatchee area... http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/regional/hunter-gets-photo-of-eight-mountain-lions-congregating-in-central/article_20f2a6fe-3ad5-11e0-bbd7-001cc4c03286.html Cool link! Although, the article did say explicitly that this doesn't mean there are more cougars out there than we think. I'd love to see one in the wild! That would be wild. Quote
Drederek Posted October 27, 2012 Posted October 27, 2012 I'd love to see one in the wild! That would be wild. Thats what I thought till I saw one! Quote
Tyson.g Posted October 27, 2012 Posted October 27, 2012 no kidding! I had my first bear encounter this year, when the guy walked past me at about 50yds away while I was in my sleeping bag and getting ready to go to sleep. Watched him for about a half an hour as he foraged around just across a wash from me at a distance of about 100-150 yds. It finally got so dark I could not see him anymore. It was pretty cool but I was a bit nervous. Had it been a cat I would have certainly crapped myself. Bears vs cats in terms of fear factor...cat wins hands down IMO. Quote
ZimZam Posted October 27, 2012 Posted October 27, 2012 There was a post on here a few years back with pics of a cat at the bottom of a crag, looking up at the two climbers, waiting for them to come down. Quote
wayne Posted October 27, 2012 Posted October 27, 2012 Ladies, watch those ponytails, they love them too! Quote
Buckaroo Posted October 28, 2012 Posted October 28, 2012 Bears vs cats in terms of fear factor...cat wins hands down IMO. Just wait til you see a Griz Quote
Tyson.g Posted October 28, 2012 Posted October 28, 2012 Wasn't counting grizzly as I figured that was a given. Quote
denalidave Posted October 28, 2012 Posted October 28, 2012 Did she happen to drop a phone number or a picture on the trail? I'm hunting for Cougars now that I'm single... Quote
B Deleted_Beck Posted October 28, 2012 Posted October 28, 2012 I saw cougar tracks mixed in with goat tracks on the east side of Adams last summer... It was "neat" in a "oh cool, nature" kind of way... it also made me want to take one of my ice tools off my pack. Quote
matt_warfield Posted October 28, 2012 Posted October 28, 2012 I am very suspicious of the picture from the Missoulian. Cougars are notoriously solitary (except when mating of course). Quote
Jim Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 When doing surveys in the Klamath Basin I've see up to three on a kill - I assume this was a family group, and another was luking nearby. Similary our remotes have captured three yearlings together. That photo of eight is pretty rare, seems to be the real deal though, after some web searching. Mt. lions populations in the state have gone up, particularly after the voters banned hound-hunting. WDFW has had to approve this method for select areas to keep the population down in some areas- you could have a long conversation about that. Quote
matt_warfield Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 Always good to hear from an expert. Quote
Jim Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 .....makes you wonder though what is the convention about here? Quote
matt_warfield Posted October 30, 2012 Posted October 30, 2012 I was serious. Lots of opinions but the ones that count are from experts. Quote
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