[Slugman]

My first cougar. A mountain lion, really. It was huge. It ran like an athlete in a loose suit. Remember those old "Tiger Paw" commercials? It was like that. It disappeared in about one second. I kept yelling "Daisy, a cougar, Daisy Daisy loook!" But it was gone. We were in the car, at about 7:15 pm, on FS rd #49, heading towards the Bald Eagle trailhead just to check road conditions while I was out there. I saw several deer in different groups, Daisy had her head out the window, barking at the deer, and whining to go chase them. I came up over a little rise in the road, and there was this caramel-brown lion. He looked towards me and then he sprung off the road into the forest and vanished. It happened so fast, it's almost as if I dreamed it. It was beautiful and terrible at the same time. I am horrified to think that a monster like that was running around less than five miles from where I was just hiking with Daisy. My pathetic little bear spray/knife combination defense strategy really seems to suck right about now. I was going to hike to Peak-a-boo lake, but I can forget that one for a while. The road is gone, I mean really gone. It would be worth the drive up there just to see it. Park at the jersey barrier or drive around it and save a half-mile walk, but then the turn around is pretty tight. If you tried to scramble across the washout, you'd have to climb a 50 ft cliff just to re-attain the road. The slope is so steep in that area, I don't see how they're going to fix it. So then my plan was to hike the Bald Eagle trail, but on the way I wanted to check out the Bedal Basin road, 4096. It was driveable, but almost comically steep. Very narrow, rocky, some tought spots, but passable. Once I was up there at Bedal creek, I figured I should check it out, so me and the pup bushwacked along the abandoned road to the creek. It all looked pretty cool, so we went back to the trailhead and headed up towards Bedal basin. There are some pretty rough blowdowns, one right after another, then things got easier for a while, some nice views of Bedal peak and Sloan peak. Then it came time to cross the creek, so I put on my gaiters really tight and just splashed through, no problem (good boots ). On the other side the trail was snow-covered and not visible, so I just angled up through a large clearing with more good views. Then the rain started in earnest, and I was already pretty wet from all the brush, tree branches, hands-and-knees blowdowns, etc, that had been on the trail, so we headed back. We made it almost to the final uphill section in the trees to the basin. It rained steadily all the way back, making the blowdowns even more slippery and messy. The car was a welcome relief from the rain. Then we headed up towards Bald eagle trail and saw the lion and all the deer. Then we went to the Peek-a-boo washout, in the dark and fog. Cool.

Waterfall and fog

Towards the upper basin

[sarbar]

So are you glad you saw it in your car, versus hiking?

[Quark]

No, no, no, Sarbar. It was hiking, Slugman was in the car.

[Karen]

Slugman, I am so glad that one (or two or three) can still get to Bedal Basin. I was almost afraid to ask anyone (one of my favorite hikes) whether or not you could still get to the trailhead. Are the double cairns still there at the creek? Karen PS I don't have many teeth but I'd give my eye teeth to see a cougar.

[Duncan]

Sluggy, having twice seen cougars, I can relate to what you are feeling. What a rush too see something so awesome and powerful in the wild. They are memories I will never forget.

[kleet]

I make it a point to carry goalposts with me. Seems to keep Cougars away purty good. (just funnin' Pap!)

[#19]

[Slugman]

Sar, am I glad I was in the car? You betcha. That thing was huge, more like a zoo lion from Africa than what I had imagined a cougar would look like. Very scary. Karen, I'm not sure I crossed the creek in the right place. I didn't see any cairns, and I never saw the trail at all on the other side due to snow cover and maybe not being in the right place. It just was time to cross by my map and GPS, plus the trail seemed to disappear on the east side, so I crossed. I think it will be a couple more weeks of melt-out before the basin can be reached by someone like me who has never been there before, without some nasty brush-whacking and seat-of-the-pants navigating. I was fighting my way through vine maple, slide alder, and devil's club, in shorts, in the rain, and post-holing, so I went back. Given some good weather, an earlier start, and some knowledge of the basic location of the trail on the west side portion, I could have made the basin for sure. But with low clouds obscuring the views, I figured to return another day.

[Nordic Princess]

Mr Slugman, you are very brave. I like a man who can admit his vulnerablities. Are you single, by chance?

[Tom]

Nordic Slugman is officially BUSTED.

[Slugman]

Whoops. Guess I went a little too far, eh?

[Tom]

Well, in the unlikely event it was Nordic Tanya I didn't want to see ol' Sluggo sleeping on the couch...

[hopalong]

You rock man, that was hillarious. I was fooled. Now you know about the corny corvette I had a few years ago.

[Slugman]

You are very wise, Tom. The whole "nordic princess" with the Rumple Minze avatar WAS cooked up originally as a persona for Tanja. But she wasn't really interested in "online hiking", so I made some good use out of the idea.