From the Terrace Hills Drive trailhead, I set out for Little Black Mountain. I’ve been looking forward to this all day. I have my water bottle, my blanket-in-a-box, my emergency Cheerios, my flashlight, and my camera. I think of the hordes of blog readers who will be interested in my adventure. I decide, for their sake, to photograph how my view of the mountain changes as I get closer to it.
There she is, in the center of the photo. What a great hike this will be. Totally worth leaving work early for.
So close, and yet so far.
She will be mine. Oh yes. She will be mine.
Jeez, how long is this freakin’ trail. I look longingly behind me, wanting nothing more than to go home and watch Family Guy while eating a turkey sandwich. But I’ve gone this far—I must press on. The journey is just so much longer than I expected, and every time I think I’m close, there’s another winding section to traverse. (I try to think of some parallel to our walk with God…but I come up with nothing. The only parallel I can think of is how you have those eye floaters, and you can never quite catch them…they’re always one step ahead of you.)
The wind picks up. It whips around with ferocity. My mouth is open with my heavy breathing, and the wind swirls inside, actually whistling as though my head is a cave. I call my best friend. “If you don’t get another phone call from me by 11 p.m. your time…leave a comment on my mom or dad’s blog to let them know I’m stranded on Little Black Mountain.” She practices what she will write (“Dear Mrs. Martindell…”). I tell her that’s exactly what I have in mind, and we say good-bye.
I feel so very very alone.
Till suddenly….
I’m not alone.
Look closer.
Look closer.
For the sake of my young readers, I’ll just say that my words at that moment were something along the lines of “Holy shoot what the heck is that!!!!! Holy shoot! Holy shoot!”
Is that, or is that not, a raving mountain lion that’s about to leap over the valley between us and tear me to shreds and feast on my innards? (I can just hear my critics now: “It’s not a mountain lion, it’s a fox! Or a goat.”) At any rate, I turn around and leave. I do not continue to the summit of Little Black Mountain. Call me a coward. It just isn’t worth it to me. I’ll go back next week, when my parents are visiting—they can protect me.
I don’t know why we humans are so afraid of nature. We think all animals are out to eat us. It’s probably because we never venture out into the wild. We’re afraid of what we don’t know. Perhaps it’s unfair to assume that this ferocious cougar would bound across the hill and come attack me. We stand there watching each other for awhile. We are both frozen. I’m almost positive it is some big cat…not a fox/goat/deer. But who knows. The above picture is the most I could zoom in. I stand there taking several shots, despite the certain untimely death. You’re welcome.
So, no Little Black Mountain for Sarah. But I did check out the Avenues Twin Peaks, and I hope Mom and Dad will hike up there with me next week. They are not as long of a hike as Little Black Mountain (which, had I continued, would have put me at probably 3.5 hours round-trip):
That’s Mt. Olympus in the background (in front of the snow-capped mountains). Mt. Olympus just might be my favorite.
For the record, I was not as scared of the mountain lion as I could have been. If it was closer, yeah, I would’ve crapped myself. But it wasn’t like the time I got in a car accident—that’s when I really did think I could die. This time was merely startling…but ominous.
Here were some pretty wildflowers along the hike:
I am thoroughly, utterly tired.
Thanks for the uplifting pictures…beautiful green hills against a blue sky. I hope the weather is going to be gorgeous like that next week.
Not sure about the animal and we won’t be packing (bringing a gun) either. I doubt I could ever shoot an animal unless it was charging after me.
Coyotes are known to feast on the inards of critters they hunt and kill. I think it is really sad in a way that you were not deemed edible by such a beast.
It looks too big and too tan to be a coyote. Mountain lions have been sighted and captured in that area in recent years. It is probably a good thing that you saw it, rather than having it sneak up on you from behind.
Most likely a large coyote (color well within the range) perhaps a feral dog or it could be a very blond wolf although that seems pretty unlikely. The shape of the animal, the time of day, and the fact that it visible out in the open pretty well discounts the possibility of a lion in my mind.
This was my backyard growing up. This looks a lot like a coyote, the sunlight can make them look tan. Sometimes the coyotes would eat our cats when they got old. They won’t attack a person unless provoked. I will go with you next time as a bodyguard!
My vote is for a coyote. Pretty harmless as a rule. He’s probably got a blog somewhere speculating about you, too. (She looked safe enough, but I wasn’t gonna take my eyes off her!) Next time, go ahead and climb the mountain.
Wow. I’m not sure what the large beast was that you saw. Possibly a kangaroo or giraffe. We tend to have both of those animals in the hills behind the avenues.
Either way it’s good you are safe so you can eat pizza.
it’s a leaf
Next time, borrow Copper. He LOVES taking hikes. He’ll keep you safe.
Maybe your mammal friend was the embodiment of the love that men have for you, as Michael Buble sings, “I’d howl at the moon like a dog in heat.”
Eh?
Oh dear. Now I don’t want to go hiking by myself either. But I’m going hiking this Saturday anyways. Even if I have to go by myself. Unless it’s raining or I see a large hungry looking mammal. That might make me change my mind.
It looks like you had fun and a good hike anyhow though.
I like the picture of Mt. Olympus with the yellow flowers in the foreground best.
I’m voting for a coyote as well. The head seems kinda pointy to be a lion. I’m not convinced you were deemed inedible as your loving cmjrff hypothesizes. It’s just as likely that the coyote suffers from the same thing humans do. When you’re full, you’re full… unless we’re talking about chocolate. Good thing you didn’t have any chocolate with you. Good thing you weren’t covered in chocolate. The coyote may have looked at you differently then. I know I would have. I don’t often see women covered in chocolate hiking around in the mountains and meadows.
As good as the animal’s eyes were, I’m pretty sure it couldn’t compete with the magnification available to you from your bionic eye in a box (camera with digital-super-zoom). It probably never even saw you. Although it might have smelled you, depending on which way the wind was blowing and whether you used some of that scent-b-gone stuff that hunters use to disguise themselves to the animal kingdom
I think karen’s reasoning is pretty good. I don’t understand the part about not packing. People that don’t pack can’t shoot an animal that is charging after them. People that do pack have the option to shoot or not shoot. I like to have options. There’s no rule I know of that says if you have a gun and see an animal you have to shoot at it. Besides, if your packing for personal defense, your bullet would likely not reach all the way to that animal, seeing as how it was still really small in the pictures, even with digital-super-zoom. Packing just evens up the odds when your traipsing around another predator’s turf. I’d shoot for food/clothing or for defense, but not for sport.
Thanks for posting.
I love that last photo – and the last one of Mt. Olympus. Hope you’re having fun with your family! I linked to your blog on mine… http://jamiemichaelsphotography.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/go-denver-go/
[...] 15, 2009 by restingpress Last week I posted about attempting to hike Little Black Mountain alone. Now, with my visiting parents in tow, I [...]