[mtbikermark]

Riding a local trail this morning at the bottom of two mile grinder. Head down...settling into the best rhythm I can muster...when, I happen to glance up the trail and about 50 yards away: a mountain lion. Well...the back of a mountain lion anyway...trotting up the trail w/o a care in the world. My first thought was, "Oh crap." then, "maybe I can finish my ride..." then, "what am I thinking, get the heck out of here!". So I turned around and blitzed the trail back to my truck (head on a swivel).

I've seen tracks on the trail before...heck I've even seen a bear on the trail...but never an actual mountain lion.

I thought I'd report it to my local authorities. Since it is a multi use trail I thought maybe someone would want to know. The woman on the phone, clearly impatient, "that is their home, there is nothing I can do." "I am not asking you to hunt the thing down", I said, "I just thought it might be wise to report the sighting to someone." "That is the lion's habitat, sir." (impatience growing) "Oh, really? I thought that it had escaped from the zoo and that the zoo keeper would want to know..." **click** apparently she didn't think my joke was funny.

Oh well. My daughter thought the whole "cougar sighting" was cool though. She was eager to share it with her 4th grade class.

 

[splat]

Interesting, next time bring a Camera ! we want pics !!

Glad you didn't mess with it , that would have been ugly.

 

[Tonycalves]

Makes for a great story Bro. I've seen bears back east at Diablo all the time. I've seen a bobcat at Noble last Sept, cut right across the trail right before the first big rock garden. But never care to see a mountain loin.

 

[Fulton]

I always bring a little bad of meow mix with me on my rides. da wittle mounty lions love it!

 

[jonKranked]

I see cougars everytime I go to Diablo. They're all at the Vernon Inn though...

 

[profro]

I see cougars everytime I go to Diablo. They're all at the Vernon Inn though...

Oh man. I remember those. The US Open after-party was full of them.

 

[HarryCallahan]

Riding a local trail this morning at the bottom of two mile grinder. ..when, I happen to glance up the trail and about 50 yards away: a mountain lion.
I thought I'd report it to my local authorities. Since it is a multi use trail I thought maybe someone would want to know. The woman on the phone, clearly impatient, "that is their home, there is nothing I can do." "I am not asking you to hunt the thing down", I said, "I just thought it might be wise to report the sighting to someone." "That is the lion's habitat, sir.".

Sounds like you got a real prize on on the phone. Did you call the sheriff or the Forest Service? If you saw a lion relatively near town or near the trailhead on a popular multi-use trail in broad daylight, that is kinda unusual. Sure it may be lion habitat, but the circumstances are unusual. The responsible thing for the land manager to do would be to post a courtesy notice at the trailhead. I sure wouldn't want someone's kid to get picked off.

 

[stevew]

you should have just screamed "On your right!" and passed the fvcker.

 

[mtbikermark]

Sounds like you got a real prize on on the phone. Did you call the sheriff or the Forest Service? If you saw a lion relatively near town or near the trailhead on a popular multi-use trail in broad daylight, that is kinda unusual. Sure it may be lion habitat, but the circumstances are unusual. The responsible thing for the land manager to do would be to post a courtesy notice at the trailhead. I sure wouldn't want someone's kid to get picked off.

Trail is not heavily used (one of the nicest parts about it) and it is about 4 miles from the nearest town. Still, I would have liked the person I spoke with to at least feign concern. I've ridden that trail for 10 years and this is the first time I'd ever seen a cougar. I hope it was the last.