[Aquaholic]

The recent round of storms have really pounded the trail, hard. The trail is washed away in so many places. The cliffs look to be very unstable as you can see from these photos. Any lines that you knew from before have been altered, it's a whole new trail. I saw these big tracks in the dirt...anyone know what they are? There is so many streams and mini rivers running into El Cap, it is filling up fast. There was still a bit of snow on Cuyamaca, but it will probably be gone by this afternoon.

 

[Aquaholic]

Here's afew more....

 

[lovebunny]

man. this wweathers crazy. i havent ridden anderson in so long. i think ill get out there once itsdry

 

[BullittX]

I highly recommend staying away from ATT untill Springtime, there are many sections of trail that have fallen away and more that will drop when we get more rain. Not to mention rockslides falling on top of the trail as well!

mark@sdmba

 

[-BB-]

Those look like Cat from teh pics... Dog prints have "nail" marks at the ends of the toes.. Unless I just can't see them b/c of pic size.

 

[HarryCallahan]

The recent round of storms have really pounded the trail, hard. The trail is washed away in so many places. The cliffs look to be very unstable as you can see from these photos. Any lines that you knew from before have been altered, it's a whole new trail. I saw these big tracks in the dirt...anyone know what they are? There is so many streams and mini rivers running into El Cap, it is filling up fast. There was still a bit of snow on Cuyamaca, but it will probably be gone by this afternoon.

Aqua,

I couldn't tell for sure if there were visible claw marks on those tracks. If there were, it was a dog or coyote. Lions and bobcats both have retractable claws, like a housecat. Couldn't really tell about the size, either. Another time, if you put something of known size in the photo, like a quarter or tire lever, it helps.
I see bobcat and coyote tracks frequently in the Santa Cruz area; bobcat tracks are roundish and about 2" in diameter. Lion tracks are bigger, maybe 4 or 5" across, and their stride is longer, so greater distance between prints.

 

[lovebunny]

wat width are your tires?

 

[Kornphlake]

Aqua,

I couldn't tell for sure if there were visible claw marks on those tracks. If there were, it was a dog or coyote. Lions and bobcats both have retractable claws, like a housecat. Couldn't really tell about the size, either. Another time, if you put something of known size in the photo, like a quarter or tire lever, it helps.
I see bobcat and coyote tracks frequently in the Santa Cruz area; bobcat tracks are roundish and about 2" in diameter. Lion tracks are bigger, maybe 4 or 5" across, and their stride is longer, so greater distance between prints.

That's somewhat comforting, we had tracks like that all summer long through our yard. I'd brush them away and the next morning they'd be out again in the same spot. I started seeing them days after an Alpine woman reported a mountain lion attacking her horse about 10 miles away so I was a little spooked to be outside all summer long, since I can't exactly throw a rock at my nearest neighbor's house. I was especially worried about my 2 year old daughter playing in the yard with so much evidance of a cat living in the immediate area, I'd assumed bobcat but I'm no expert when it comes to tracking so I constantly had that question and a little bit of anxiety about what's making that noise over in the bushes.

 

[Aquaholic]

Lovebunny that Nevegal is a 2.35. It leaves a fat footprint.

Kornflake, BullitX while the dirt is still moist....let's do some trail work repairs out there. How about next weekend?

 

[lovebunny]

so those pawprints are like 2"x2". man i wish i still lived on peutz valley rd

 

[Kornphlake]

Where about did you live on PVR?

 

[lovebunny]

a little ways in. we were the people that had all the busses many a year ago

 

[Kornphlake]

Lovebunny that Nevegal is a 2.35. It leaves a fat footprint.

Kornflake, BullitX while the dirt is still moist....let's do some trail work repairs out there. How about next weekend?

I did some work this saturday, the grand canyon below the only double anybody hits anymore now has a line across it with boulders and stuff below so hopefully it won't wash away come next rain. I also filled in 50 yards or so of ruts in various places and dug some drains so they won't come back untill kids come out and roost the corners on their fiddies. I didn't stash any of my tools but there is a pair of loppers on a rock 100 feet or so before the road gap on the left hand side of the trail. I tried using them to cut the branches that were covering the trail but they didn't work well, they're all rusted and the hinge is too loose. Thank goodness I remembered to bring a knife, I did cut the branches back as much as I dared though.

 

[Aquaholic]

Dan:

Thanks for putting the time in! It's really appreciated. Let's still try to get a trail day together and really shore some things up.

 

[genpowell71]

I cant be for certain, but I would guess bobcat.