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climbrunride
Sport climber
Golf Wall, CO
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Feb 27, 2019 - 10:06pm PT
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Deer, elk, moose, donkeys, bobcats, mama whale and her baby, mountain lion, pigs, bears, lynx, goats, horses, sharks, sheep, pronghorn, sea lions, otters, beavers...
I've had several really memorable encounters. But the one which stands out the best was seeing the creature from the black lagoon.
A friend and I were walking from Olmstead Point back into the woods to climb Creature From The Black Lagoon. As we came around a bend and saw the pond, we noticed something floating in the middle of the water. It looked about the size and shape of a small black backpack which a kid would use for school books. But it was moving.
We got a little closer and realized that it was a bear's head. It was just taking a nice afternoon swim in the pond. We took a wide path around as we watched the bear play in the water. It dove several times, did rolls and somersaults, and looked like it was really enjoying itself. Seeing the bear just playing in the water on a hot summer day was perhaps the best wildlife encounter I had ever had!
We tried to not bother the bear at all, and took a long, circuitous path to the top of the rock. Once up there, I looked over the edge, to see the bear from above. But it was gone. I guessed it must have left. So we started unpacking our packs and getting ready to climb. And then I noticed something move about 15 feet off to my side.
A nice, dark, medium sized black bear was just topping out on the ramp to climbers' left. Almost within touching distance! He got up to the top, looked over at us for a few moments, and continued on his way. We just sat and watched the bear for about 20 minutes, as it took its time wandering up the hillside above the rock. It was picking at tree branches and leaves, and eating berries. And it didn't seem to care at all that we were right there with it.
Definitely a super cool experience, getting to see the Creature From The Black Lagoon!
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Feb 28, 2019 - 06:14am PT
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Timid Toprope wrote;
two young mountain loins flicking their tails
Isn't that redundant?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Feb 28, 2019 - 08:56am PT
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On Hunter Mountain, Death Valley...
GET BACK IN THE TRUCK!
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Feb 28, 2019 - 01:36pm PT
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Reilly, I was in my 20s before I laid eyes on one of those strange creatures, hardly slept that night:) I saw my second one a few years ago at City of Rocks.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Feb 28, 2019 - 01:41pm PT
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Is that an antlion larvae?
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Feb 28, 2019 - 01:48pm PT
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I think they’re called sand puppies around here. Idk wtf they are.
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Feb 28, 2019 - 01:51pm PT
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Goats all over Utah mts.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Feb 28, 2019 - 01:58pm PT
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I've seen a couple of big cats up around The Needles, nowhere near a main trail or camp though.
As a kid, stepdad and I paddled around the Boundary Waters a lot. On a river joining two lakes (a rare spot where we didn't have to portage,) we floated past a big old Moose standing along the shore. And the sound of them trumpeting at sunset echoing across the lakes is pretty cool.
But one I just can't get out of my head is the two little bear cubs playing in my patio fountain. The bears around here live up in the Angeles Nat Forest, but I guess they are semi-urbanized. Once in a while they wander down to see what trouble they can find. Mostly they stay up on the mountain though.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Feb 28, 2019 - 02:34pm PT
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Jerusalem crickets (or potato bugs), Stenopelmatus fuscus, are a group of large, flightless insects of the genus Stenopelmatus. They are native to the western United States and parts of Mexico.
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Feb 28, 2019 - 02:45pm PT
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We call those little black ones that roll into a ball potato bugs.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Feb 28, 2019 - 02:59pm PT
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So Reilly do they prove that the Lamanites brought them from Jerusalem?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Feb 28, 2019 - 03:36pm PT
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Well, you would only need a few for a decent meal, long as you can keep the seagulls off ‘em!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 16, 2019 - 08:27am PT
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Household Moose: not frozen and not a dead guy!
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Hardly Visible
Social climber
Llatikcuf WA
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Mar 16, 2019 - 09:57am PT
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Not the most memorable, but still pretty good.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Republic, WA
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Mar 16, 2019 - 11:07am PT
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Oh. . . and no fewer than 50 wild turkeys at a time!
Same here. Last summer I thought they were really cool birds. Now, not so much. There are so many and they come around so often that their poop is everywhere. I'm sure the dirt and the local flora love the nutrients but the roads where I walk my dogs is covered and my pooches have discovered they like it. So now I am constantly on their leash as I walk, muttering,"no poop for you." These birds roost in trees inside city limits so no hunters can get them, only the occasional predator. I suspect their numbers will only increase. Same with the deer. City deer are a pain in the ass and seem to be rather sick looking compared to the wild deer.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 16, 2019 - 01:47pm PT
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Best sighting TODAY!
A Ruff! No, not a Woof, a Ruff! He/she is sposed to be in Viet Nam!
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J R
climber
bend
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Mar 17, 2019 - 08:16am PT
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I ended up in Missoula for a short period last winter. My first drive down into the Bitteroot, I missed a turn to Blodgett canyon and ended up in the canyon south unknowingly. I started hiking from the trail head in a light covering of snow. After two miles it became thigh deep. At the moment I began to think that post-holing to know where was ridiculous, a lynx appeared in front of me. It sat down on the hill in front of me and watched me. I waited for it to move, but it walked towards me, and as it passed, it just looked up at me acknowledging my presence. I decided to keep suffering, and continued looking for the ice that wasn't in my canyon.
Ten minutes later the Lynx reappeared ahead of me and for some reason decided to walk with me. It stayed ahead of me about a hundred feet showing me the trail, for a very long time. After a few more miles of drudging through snow, I found a small ice curtain over veneered rock. I veered right to meet the ice and the lynx kept onward up canyon. I down climbed then met the lynx's trail again up canyon a distance later. Shortly thereafter, I found a smattering of rabbit and lynx tracks circling a large section of blood soaked snow. The lynx was ahead waiting for me again uphill. I walked around the kill site towards the lynx, and it continued walking ahead. It stayed with me for about another mile, then parted ways again. 10 miles up canyon, my legs began to cramp. I turned around, and headed back to the car, never finding the waterfall I was looking for. On the drive out I saw a sign pointing in the wrong direction for Blodgett canyon.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Mar 30, 2019 - 04:55pm PT
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Russ Walling
Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
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Mar 30, 2019 - 04:57pm PT
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Saw a beaver once in the Space Station at Josh...
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