3.5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
My intention was to hike up to Mt Thomas via the Domerie Divide trail. When I was gearing up at the trailhead, a fish and wildlife officer came along and told me there was a report of an aggressive mountain lion up on the ridge where I was headed. I decided I wasn’t concerned and started the hike.
After crossing SilverCreek, a big fat, fuzzy bear jumped on the trail in front of me. It took two steps toward me, then suddenly stopped when it saw me did a 180 and ran away . I got a picture of its butt. It looked well prepared for the winter, happy hibernation good bear!
Soon after, I met up with the woman who had the cougar encounter. She said it stalked and menaced her in the vicinity of Mt Baldy, where I was headed. She had to yell and throw sticks until it finally ran away. She was pretty distressed and advised me not to go up there. I was considering turning back but after a couple mountain bikers and a hiker came by and kept going up, I decided to press on.
But I was rattled, vigilant, anxious, and could not fully enjoy the beautiful fall day. After lunch at a viewpoint, I headed back down, scanning the forest and looking behind me regularly, rock in one hand trekking pole in the other.
