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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Buy Ghost and me a bottle of 02 Chateauneuf du Pape and we’ll talk being stalked by white bears.
Well, okay, Chateaneuf du Pape for Reilly, but if you want to get me going about being eaten by white bears, a bottle of late 90s Barbaresco will be the ticket.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Riding my mountain bike on a double-track in the foothills above Claremont 30 years ago, a coyote came out of the brush and veered toward me. I started to panic a little, even though it was not very large, but kept riding as I figured it would just go away.
But once it got to within 5 or so feet, it just started jogging along, as if it were a pet dog. It stayed that way for several hundred yards, just cruising along before it decided this wasn't that fun.
Another time in Washington was mountain biking on a windy, slightly downhill trail with not a lot of visibility ahead. Came around a bend going fairly fast to discover a large deer standing across the trail. Jammed on the brakes as hard as I could and stopped several inches from T-boning the deer. Only then did it move.
Best photo I've gotten was probably this one:
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Close to black and brown bears numerous times in Sierras and Ak.
Right next to porpoises many times surfing in So Cal.
Bobcat, 20 ft away while mountain biking down Corizzo Gorge, San Diego.
Rattlesnakes galore in SD backcountry.
Humpbacks breaching right next to our sailboat in Prince William Sound, Ak...talk about halitosis, those whales dealt it.
Was in a 20 foot outboard motor boat in Beaufort Sea, Ak, when a huge walrus swam parallel next to us...it dwarfed the boat.
Climbed up Flattop early one morning in Anchorage. Scrambled around a rock and was eyeball to eyeball, 5' from a mountain goat...didn't know that was possible.
2 years ago was eyeball to eyeball 2' from a moose. The only thing between us was the windshield, heh. After damaging the car, it ran off like nothing happened.
The wife swims at La Jolla cove and 5 years ago had a sea lion scratch her stomach...freaked her out.
My buddy jogging through alders outside Anchorage near dusk, had his head down and bounced off a moose. Startled them both, and both ran in opposite directions. (Moose may be more dangerous than bears)
Mountain lion and wolverine are the most elusive...I've never seen either in the wild...but I bet they've seen me.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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But Lester had nothing on the mama Polar Bear who thought we shouldn't have been that close to her baby.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Fall of 1969, I heard about a “must-attend” party in Ketchum, Idaho. The problem was, although my working-class family lived in Ketchum, I was attending the University of Idaho, 500 miles away. My pal Kenny & I cut classes on Friday after I called home and explained I wanted to come home & go hunting. (I did not specify what I would be hunting.)
Sat. morning, I got up early & visited with my parents over breakfast. My father left for work & I dutifully grabbed my old Winchester Model 1894 30-30 deer rifle, and took off into the local mountains.
Because I liked the area and figured I would have it to myself, I drove up Ohio Gulch, where the waste transfer site now is. After making it to the logical end of the road around 7,000 feet, I jumped out of my Dad’s 1954 Dodge Powerwagon, loaded a daypack, and at the last second, decided I had better take the 30-30, in case I ran into someone that knew my family. I didn’t bother to load the rifle, or bring any ammo along.
I had zero intension of ruining my day by shooting a deer. I had grown up in a family that due to a lack of money, had to hunt for meat in the fall & fish a lot in late spring & summer. By the time I left for college, I was more than ready to stop hunting, shooting, dressing-out, hauling, skinning, butchering, & worse yet ------- having to eat deer.
It was a beautiful October day, and I soon topped out on one of the high points between Ohio Gulch & Cove Creek (maybe point 8122?) I had a great view down into Driveway Gulch and of the Pioneer Range. After a smoke, to add to my enjoyment, I started traversing through fairly thick & large sagebrush to the north towards Ohio Peak 8,758’, in hopes of getting better views to the north.
I was almost to another high point when I suddenly saw my first ever, in the wild, mountain lion, about 50 feet above me. The cat was sideways to me & was way bigger than any I had seen in zoos, and its fur was quite long too. I really like cats, and mountain lions were very scarce in Idaho at the time, having nearly been hunted to extinction. I was thrilled for a second, then with my eyes on it, the lion simply dropped and disappeared in the brush.
It quickly sunk in that I was very close to a large predator, with my rifle empty. I can’t say I was scared, but I was a wee-bit nervous about having a big mountain lion just above me in thick brush. It seemed a good idea to traverse away from the lion instead of towards it. I worked back to the southeast with frequent backwards glances, but never saw the lion again. 49 years later, it is still the only mountain lion I’ve seen in the wild.
The party that night was an anticlimax.
In 2013 we were rafting on Idaho’s Salmon River, when we noticed a yearling black bear following us along the edge of the river.
After a few hundred yards, it jumped in the river & started swimming strongly after us.
We were not real worried, but all three rafts rowed somewhat faster than before. The bear soon altered its course to the far side of the river & our stress levels went down.
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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A coral snake dropped out of a tree right next to me while I was hiking in Brazil. It seemed mighty fast and aggressive and I ran off.
I was house sitting for friends in Anchorage and my buddy said "Keep an eye out for Penelope, the kid's white rabbit, because she got loose.
Next day I come back at 11:30 pm and see Penelope run up the driveway in the fading light. While going up driveway and looking around for Penelope, a shadow was cast over the windshield. The next moment I looked down and a great horned owl was flying next to the car below the driver window, with Penelope in it's talons. I quickly rolled the window down and shouted "HEY"! The bird, maybe 2 feet away, dropped Penelope about 1 foot to the ground and the rabbit darted into the alders. I looked around but couldn't find her, figured the talons pierced her lungs and she'd die in the bushes.
Next day the rabbit came out, no worse for wear and I was the family hero for saving Penelope the rabbit.
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Aeriq
Sport climber
100-year Visitor
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I am not sure if it was seeing a whale breach 20 feet off our trolling out-rigger in Alaska near Barinoff Island in the early 90's
or mountain bike riding near Mount Baldy where I crested a cut in the hill to see a 10-foot cat in the road, staring me down. Tail to head, blocking the road.
I had heard to hold your bike above you to look larger & also as a possible last chance weapon during an attack - the old throw-n-go. Although where, I knew not - for 70-80 degree slopes were on either side of me.
I held up my bike and watched the following:
This cat turned away (whew) and then leaped up this impossibly steep slope.
It's paws touched lightly on the loose dirt maybe 20 feet up and it was gone over the top - probably another 15 feet.
All that remained to prove this happened was a few pebbles rolling down the slope.
OK, that one was the best.
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john hansen
climber
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When I was about 20, there was a lake and some woods where I used to walk almost every day. Every once in a while I would see a Great Horned Owl flying away from me, he always heard me first.
One day I came into a pretty big clearing and saw him take off from a low branch in a oak tree about a hundred yards away.
I went and checked it's perching spot and it was worn smooth from the owl spending time there looking out at this meadow.
A couple days later I came up from behind the owls hunting spot. I started about 100 yards away and spent an hour working my way up the hill being as quiet as possible.
When I got to a point where I could see the branch,, the owl was there with its back to me..
I spent another 30 minutes getting closer and closer till I was within 15 feet. The next step, something made the slightest noise, and his head swung 180 degrees ,and he paused just for a second thinking, 'how did he get that close ?', before taking off from its roost and floating across the meadow.
Sneaking up on an owl. To get a tail feather would be way more impressive.
I always considered the owl my amakua
Great stories everyone, keep em coming, Thanks Jim for a another cool thread.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Large hawk flying alongside my car with a live snake in its talons. Seen 2 Lynx. super cool. couple cool bear encounters. talked my way up to a small buck behind my cabin. He was curled up in the grass behind my cabin giving himself a bath the same way a cat would. I talked to him softly and kept getting closer. T finally kneeled down next to him perhaps 2 feet away from him for 5 min or so. Just talking and hanging out. telling him to be carefull in the fall. Went back in the house and got my girlfriend and she came out and hung with us for a bit. we wanted to pet him but thought that for some reason it would not be ok?? like his friends would not like him anymore if he smelled like people.. finally we were satisfied with the encounter and let him be. never saw him again...
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Saw a beaver in the Grand Canyon. Was just south of Vasseys Paradse on a narrow slice of real estate between the Colorado river and the canyon wall. He was not building a dam.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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In 1966, climbing probably the Red Shirt route on Yamnuska, Canada with Matt Hale, I was leading a steep section. An eagle was buzzing around my head, and soon I realized why. I came up over this overhang, and was greeted by a nest full of baby eagles, just inches from my face. I wish that I had taken a photo, since I had a camera, but it was too steep to manage, and the mother was dive bombing me, as well.
Do big spiders count as wildlife? If there as big as your hand, and inches from your face, I think they do. This monster scared the Sh---it out of me, in Australia, in 1968.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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RJ. Condolences on your mom passing into the next realm. hope is was a peaceful transition.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Grizzlies and wolves in Yellowstone. Awesome.
Jim, I'd have figured you might have seen a snow leopard in your travails. . .
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JerryA
Mountain climber
Sacramento,CA
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On a Mera climb ,I asked the Sherpas & porters if they had ever seen a snow leopard in the wild? One claimed to have & all of the others did not believe him & laughed at him !
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jerry, I woke up in the Pamirs and found a Snow Leopard print in the dirt 8’ from my sleeping
bag. It was a kit’s. I’m sure Mom was nearby but she would never have left a print in the dirt.
About a mile from there I found where she had ambushed an Asiatic Ibex. I guess I didn’t
smell so good.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Tradman...thanks..
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Was sitting on a wooded ridge in the N Cascades watching the sunset when a doe walked
outta the woods 40’ to my right and without hesitation walked right up to me. She stood right
in front of me staring me in the face for a good half a minute. Then she bent her head and
smelled my boot, lifted her head back up and said, “SnoSeal turns me on!”.
OK, she didn’t say that.
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D'Wolf
climber
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Riding dirt bikes in the San Bernadino Mts. of SoCal. Stopped for a break and while we were sitting there, a deer appeared on the trail. She slowly walked right up to us. We sat there, not moving, not sure what she would do if we did. She stuck her nose right in my partner's face, nuzzled him, then licked his face. She hung out with us for about 20 minutes.
When we left, she bounded up the trail with us, running side by side with us for probably 1/4 mile. Ran into that same deer in the same area again the following season and she did the same thing...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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^^^^ Yup, proof of reincarnation I’d say.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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I love reading all these stories.
Most memorable is probably the mountain lion I saw crossing the road in front of my car on 395 very early one morning. (I was alone.)
Most impressive was the Golden Eagle standing in a field right near the side of the road on the way from the interstate into City of Rocks. Impressive because the huge size of a bird like this cannot be comprehended until you see one up close. (My husband was there.)
Most creepy was pulling into the parking lot at the Pinnacles early one morning to see about a dozen turkey vultures perched in the trees, watching. Wow that is an ugly and big bird up close. (I think this was with Clint Cummins.)
Most magical was coming round a bend in the trail on the approach to the Surprise in the Valley to come face to face with a gorgeous bobcat. He/she just sat there and looked at us less than three feet away for a good two minutes before silently gliding away into the woods. (This one was with Dave Altman.)
These all have CLIMBING in common. So this is a CLIMBING related thread!
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