[Backpacker Joe]

It's called the second amendment to the United States constitution Mal! Thank GOD our founding fathers had a much clearer picture of our present and future than YOU seem to! That you can criticize me or anyone else on our/my spelling, and somehow link an intelligence to that is typical lefty logic! People like you are small in the scope of things! There is a much bigger, better picture to this. Right now the latest pole shows 78+ % of the US population in support of President Bush! Bummer for you. TB

[McPilchuck]

...there in the sand at the edge of the gravel where the stream lapped the shore were the fresh tracks of a huge mountain lion, heading upstream. I was only armed with my fly rod. The stream (remains unnamed here) is one I have fly fished for over 40 years for pan-sized trout, a section of stream I fished with both my grandfather and father way back when, which remains today still relatively wild on Nat'l Forest land. "No cat" was going t keep me from fly fishing! I continued on up a few miles into the "Shangri-la Pools" where huge Douglas firs towered overhead shading the stream from little sunlight, and moss grew thick heavy with dew and clung to the boulders of the canyon...everything was an emerald-green like a lush rainforest of the Tropics. When I had caught my fill, as well as the wading, I returned from whence I'd came. There, in the sand again were the cats fresh tracks heading back downstream...he'd been watching me the whole time from above, but I never wavered as I felt he wasn't interesed in me anyhow...just seeing how the human fishing was done. But I knew he was there and not too far from the stream. In the Olympics way off the beaten path (in Larry Country) I've made many a camp with Mark Boyle and Glen Lee (my two long-trusted climbing/hiking pals) with bears all around...12-15 of them at one camp. But they never bothered us, too busy feeding on berries. See: olympic black bear photo at http://www.alpinequest.com on the Photo Guest Page. At no time have I ever been really afraid of 4-legged creatures, two legged perhaps? Rarely do I ever carry a gun anymore except during hunting season, but on occasional road trips with expensive gear the handgun is sometimes included.

[Backpacker Joe]

Why is this an issue? Let those who wish to carry carry, and those who wish to abstain, abstain! Somehow those against always criticize those who choose to carry! Hmm! TB

[Errin' Spelling]

Hey Joe, sometimes your spelling is a little amusing, but we can usually make scents out of what you are trying to say. It's good to know, for example, that the pole is supporting Bush.

[Malachai Constant]

I only pack heat when necessay. Always when hunting seldom when hiking, frequently when car camping in the desert.

[Backpacker Joe]

Packing heat!!!! What a bummer. The point is that each person is responsible for his/or her actions! I wish every woman carried a firearm! You'd see most assaults end! TB

[Lead Dog]

If I hike alone I carry. With others along I usually don't. But if I happen to be packing no one else knows. I wouldn't want to offend anyone. I never have had to use it and hope never to, but was glad to have it one day when I awoke early one morning while camped beside the Skokomish River to find a very large cougar 3 feet away from me, looking at me with his great big eyes. They really do have Big teeth too.

[Mike E.]

Lead Dog, So what happened ? Geez, talk about suspense. Did you have to use your gun on that big toothed cougar or what ? I can hardly stand not knowing.

[Lead Dog]

When I woke to find that cougar in camp it was kind of funny, because I had packed I wasn't scared but sort of relaxed and because I was relaxed I could study the cat with great detail. How often can you get a chance like this. It was such a beautiful animal. I think it was relaxed also because it just stood their and looked at me. Then after awile it walked off WOW!!!! Later as I broke camp I discovered it"s tracks right next to where I was laying-I wasn't using a tent, I was tarp hiking. Nice idea Jardine A wonderful hiking moment.

[salish]

I carry a firearm once in a while, and like Lead Dog it's never obvious. I often times carry a little .22 pistol after Sept. 1st when grouse are legal. I'm not very good at spelling, either.

[Backpacker Joe]

If I am in an area where there is a good likelihood of meeting people I conceal my weapon. If there isn't that likelihood I carry it exposed. TB

[Dean]

One of the more interesting Cougar stories I've heard was one by Jeffrey Olson, now a professor at the university of Wyoming. He and two others were sleeping near the top of Aasgard Pass, they in a tent and Jeff outside on a tarp, when he woke up in the morning, he noticed Cougar tracks less than a foot or so from where his head was. When i heard this story, I emailed Jeff and this was his response:

[salish]

Wow Dean, that's an amazing story. I've got one of my own, not so scary, though. Two springs ago three of us (and our two dogs) hiked into Anderson Lake(s) near Baker Lake, for an overnight trip. It was cool because the snowpack allowed us to travel cross country and made the trip much faster. At one point one or more of us thought we saw something out of the corner of our eye way back on the trail, looking at us, but we thought it was a doe or something. We made Anderson Lake and camped, and on the way out the next morning we followed our tracks and saw the cougar tracks intercept ours and it was obvious it followed us most of the way to the lake. It as pretty cool. Our dogs were on high alert, too. We guessed it was the four legged ones the cat was thinking about. But your tale of the cat-by-the-sleeping-head story is priceless.

[Dean]

Cliff: I was intrigued by Jeff's story because I hadn't ever heard of anyone reporting a cougar sighting in the Enchantment area. The spot he was sleeping is an area I have camped myself and is nice, flat and sandy. I've heard of a bear that used to live in the Nada Lake area but I haven't seen any nor any bear sign in that area. Anyone know of a bear story for the Enchantment/Mt. Stuart area?

[Lead Dog]

I think the cougar that visited my camp lives in the area. Catwoman told me she heard a cougar while camped at Flapjack Lake which is close to where I was.