Big DARK Cat In The Woods

[ladyinthehat]

Hey Guys and Gals!

I haven't posted here in sometime, but wanted to share what happened to me yesterday at 2:30 in the afternoon in the woods above Washougal, Washington.

I had just completed the Three Corner Rock via the Pacific Crest Trail and the Three Corner Rock via Stebbins Creek trail (combined them). My husband met me at the trail head on W 2000. I threw my pack in the back of our Jeep and took off down the gravel road when from the left side of the road a HUGEpowerful cat came running right in front of us. We both started yelling "BIG CAT! BIG CAT!" It happened so fast we were both stunned at what we had just seen....but than we both looked at each other and said, "IT WAS DARK!"

Yep folks...we are pretty sure we saw a super dark grey, or light black, mountain lion. I am so glad my husband saw it too. We know that we didn't influance each others idea of what we saw because we were both yelling the same things at the same time we saw it lol!

I called Fish and Game this morning and they told me that there have been two other sighting....sorry forgot to ask were exactly the other sightings were. I was just so relieved that they didn't laugh at me when I reported it!!!

This monster ran right out of the woods that I had been hiking in and sleeping in for the past three days. When I saw it the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck prickled up with the magic of seeing such an animal in the wild.

I know they are out there, but to actually see one come right out of the woods where you had just been makes a gal stop and go hummmm.....

Anyway, I have been doing some really great hikes out there these past few years...and yes I will continue to.

I have a silly little backpacking blog if you are interesting in reading about any of my trips. I am a great grandmother and I like to walk in the woods and sleep on the ground.

http://www.backpackwithjenny.com (I just switched my blog over to a privately owned domain, so it is a work in progress right now. I will have my latest trip written up and posted there within the next couple of days)

Do I feel special for seeing what I saw yesterday? You betch! Do I realize the risk of seeing an animal like that where I had just been hiking? You betch!

Hope to see some of you out there on the trails this summer.

I am just an old lady in a hat

Jenny

[retired jerry]

wow, too bad you don't have picture

I think there's a lot of them out there, they see us, but don't let us see them

[ladyinthehat]

wow, too bad you don't have picture

I think there's a lot of them out there, they see us, but don't let us see them

Well Jerry...that is the damn shame of it. I had my camera sitting on my lap! It just happened so fast...that cat was moving baby!

Yeah, I have been told several times that just because we don't see them that doesn't mean they aren't out there.

Well, I now know for sure that they are

[cfm]

Wow Jenny, great story! For those of us that have these special rare wildlife encounters, it is so brief and startling, it is almost impossible to take a picture.

It might be possible that it was an escaped exotic pet- like maybe a panther??? I recall a few years ago there were several sightings of a strange racoony (yet not a racoon) animal near Baskett Slough, and it turned out to be someone's escaped coatimundi.

[geographics]

.

[ponyboy84]

An escaped Panther would be something else. If so, probably finding it difficult to adapt to the wild, so it might be particularly dangerous. Wonder if I'll run into it up there next week when I'm up that way.

How was the trail from the summit to the PCT?

[Rather B Hiking]

You are so lucky to see that! I have always wanted to see a cougar in the wild. Have seen tracks and scat, but no cats.

[Splintercat]

Wow! I'm kinda wondering about the escaped exotic cat, too -- very plausible, since the keepers of these animals tend to live out in the hinterlands, anyway.

Thanks for the report!

Tom

[ladyinthehat]

How was the trail from the summit to the PCT?[/quote]

Just when I got to the old metal trough where the spring is right off the trail down from Three Corner Rock a thick fog rolled in! I had been sweating up the one side and then shivering down the other....but that is the PNW ain't it? My 'view' shots from the top of the rock are all white out lol.

The trail was fine. A few spots of snow, but nothing difficult to just walk over. Someone had left a note down at the bottom of the trail to look out for a lost stuffed brown monkey. I kept my eyes opened but never saw it. Hope someone did find it, it sounded like there is a sad little boy missing his money

Funny thing about the approach I made down to Stebbins creek: The info I was using said "dfive rough switchbacks to a camp next to a bridge over Stebbins creek."
Okey Dokey I am thinking. I just have to think about it backwards. So down I go happily to the creek.....no bridge. No sign of there ever being a bridge. Makes a girl go hummmm.....? So over I wade (love this seasons new water proof boots) through the water and look for the campsite next to the non existent bridge. Well isn't that a poke with a trekking pole? I don't see one.
It is getting to be around six in the evening and I would like to be done walking for the day. After looking around a bit I see little ways up the trail on the other side where I crossed the creek a small clearing that I can just put my little tent down in. I stroll down in there find a sort of old looking fire pit.
It wasn't until the next morning after switchbacking up the other side I see a sign that says "Bridge Out". DUDES! Information I could have used last night lol!

[er0ck]

wow! jealous!

i read that cougars are generally tawny but can sometimes be light grey or silvery. a really dark one! hmmmm...