Thursday, November 3, 2011
Cougar bait?
I've never been too worried about the mountain lions choosing me as their breakfast. No doubt they see me a lot more than I see them, especially when I'm hopping along in the pre-dawn hours with my headlamp. I've had two previous encounters with lions while trail running in Fort Collins. I saw my third one this morning. I got a good long look at this awesome creature from about 10 feet away, through the window of my car. Bad news was that I was spitting distance from the Soderberg trailhead where I was planning to trudge up Towers Road. Also bummed I didn't have my camera. Well I cancelled the popular 4:30am wave for Towers Thursday and decided to head on up to the Horsetooth Rock trailhead instead. It was a more preferable run than Towers anyway, and the way the lion was looking at me, I thought it best to not invade his territory. With our second major dumping of snow in the last 8 days yesterday, it was just a beautiful morning on the mountain!
Shoulda challenged it to a race. Tell the cat to wait 25 mins and then try and beat you to the top.
ReplyDeleteNo cat sightings for me. Just prints.
Ha! I bet I would have set a PR even in the snow.
ReplyDeleteI think 4:30 AM is last call for lions.
ReplyDeleteNever seen a print in five years of running all over the place (although I tend to run closer in to town in the winter). Only caught a glimpse one time because rushing water masked the sound of my feet. Secretive aren't they.
Unfortunately, I've never come across a cat or bear in the "wild". Been scared out of my wits by glowing eyes at night but those were likely deer.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for picking another run spot!
Crap. I think my HR sitting in the car looking at it would have counted for the workout for the day.
ReplyDelete