Forum Index > Trip Reports > In Search Of "The Prius" 10-16-2017
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Bootpathguy
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Bootpathguy
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PostTue Oct 17, 2017 7:04 pm 
Feeling left out and frustrated by all the folks who have seen The Prius, I decided to go and try to find one. I read many trip reports that mention a sighting of The Prius. It's always in a trailhead parking lot. I like reading the reports where folks mention seeing a bear, or a cougar, or a wolverine, or a otter, or a big horn sheep, or a mountain goat, or a fisher. I've seen some of the above mentioned, but, The Prius appears to be the favorite. I'm seeing it mentioned more often in trip reports. Even more than the critters listed above. What is it about The Prius? Why is it mentioned so often? It must be... special. I've got to go see one! I don't even know what The Prius is or what it looks like. I could Google it but I don't want to ruin the surprise. I also can't pick out a camouflaged Larch in a forest of green trees. I didn't, and don't, recognize a Larch until it turns a different color. I assume The Prius is sort-of the same thing. A chameleon. A chameleon type of something that inhabits and frequents trailhead parking lots. I figured I'd recognize it when I saw it. Whatever it may be. "Larches and The Priuses". "Priuses and Larches". I understand the Larch fetish. I have it. It's awesome. I now want what some other folks have. The Prius fetish. I know it's going to be just as awesome. Why wouldn't it be. Everybody is talking about. "The Prius in a trailhead parking lot". And hell, I don't even have to go hike to find it. Yeeee-Haw!!! I went back and studied some trip reports that mention The Prius. They appear to be spotted most often at some of the busiest and more popular trails. I guess The Prius isn't shy and likes lots of cars and people. I decided to go to one of the most popular trailhead parking lots. I got up at the early hour of 4:00am hoping that The Prius shared many habits of other things and creatures. Moving around in the early morning and late afternoon. I hit the road at 5:00am and arrived at the trailhead parking lot at 8:00am. Lots of cars already in the parking lot. I figured this was a good omen. The Prius likes full parking lots. Reports say, you're more likely to spot The Prius in a full parking lot. I had my hunting blind set up by 8:20. My hunting blind has 5 walls and only 4 window flaps. Don't ask me why. Factory defect I guess. I got a good deal on it. Here is one of the views from the blind.
I thought to myself, The Prius could be in the parking lot right at this very moment and I wouldn't even realize it. I opened up my box of cheez-its, settled in and waited. Not long I heard a rustle in the bushes at the back of the blind. I swiveled around on my little stool and got my camera ready. I slowly lifted the window flaps
False alarm. Just two flamingos doing a mating dance. I threw some of my cheez-its at them to try and shoo them away fearing that all the commotion might keep The Prius from making an appearance. They wouldn't stop. I then grabbed a entire handful of cheez-its, stood up, and violently hurled them at the flamingos. They didn't go far. Note to self. My snacks need more mass and weight. Cheez-its now spread out in front of me as if I were feeding ducks at a public beach. Suddenly I heard something large. Very large! Approaching from my left. I opened up the window flaps on that side. God Damn It! The cheez-its attracted a hippo
Crap! The Prius will definitely not show up while this huge Hippopotamus is hanging around. The hippo snorted around my blind and gobbled up all the cheez-its that littered the ground. As soon as it was satisfied it had eaten them all, it sauntered off into the forest Phew! I was happy when it made it's departure. Now I can go back to what I came here for. Watching for The Prius. A few minutes later I heard some rustling in the leaf litter just a few feet from my blind. I took a peek out of the window. Wow! First time I've seen one at this elevation.
Not too concerned about it's presence and not fearing it would keep The Prius from making a appearance, I let it be. A couple more hours went by before any more action. It's surprising how much you notice when you really listen for any, and all forest activity. My senses on high alert I could faintly hear something in the tree just outside the blind. I stuck my head out of one of the window and glanced upward. I was face to face with the ugliest squirrel I'd ever seen.
I assume a birth defect. Now, I know this goes against all wilderness ethics, but I killed it and put it out of it's miserable life. I grabbed my slingshot, and for ammunition, a old Peanut M&M from the bottom of my pack. It was a green one. Placed the M&M in the leather sling, pulled back with all my might, and let that M&M fly!!! SMACK! Right between the eyes! It hit the forest floor with a thud. Poor thing had probably been teased by all the other squirrels it's entire life. An outcast. I did a good thing folks. Gimme a break. It doesn't need to be breeding with other squirrels spreading its DNA. Not that a female squirrel would want to get with that one anyway, but didn't want to take any chances. I stepped out of the blind, picked it up by one of it's lifeless legs, and in frisbee style, I tossed it's dead, ugly-ass carcass far from the blind. I was getting hungry so I stepped back into the blind and broke out my lunch. Sat back down on my little stool and watched through one of the windows. Just as I took a bite out of my sandwich I noticed the willows moving over by where I tossed the squirrel carcass. I know I hit that squirrel pretty hard in the head so I'm sure it was dead. That green M&M exploded on that squirrels forehead like a forth of July firework. But, to be a responsible person, I decided to go make sure. Just as I stepped out of the blind, this big fella stood up with a little squirrel hand sticking out of his mouth.
As the squirrel slipped down the polar bears throat, was the moment that I noticed it only only had 3 toes. Just enough digits to be giving me the middle finger as it slowly slipped away. Just more confirmation in my mind that it was better off dead. With one final gulp the polar bear finished his meal. f###! I should have known better with the cheez-its fiasco! I attracted another creature that will probably keep The Prius from making an appearance. Now what! I closed all the window blinds and sat on my stool. What would Doctor Doolittle do? Hmmm...
Several minutes later it hit me. I remember something I saw on the discovery channel. There is only one creature a polar bear is afraid of and luckily I had the call. I always carry it with me in case I ever run into a polar bear in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. It looks similar to a duck call but makes a beautiful, almost mythical, sound. I put it to my lips and exhaled 3 long breaths into the call just like the directions say. The sweet melody being carried off in all directions by a gentle breeze. I repeated this a half dozen times and then opened all the window flaps and waited. The polar bear was slowly making it's way towards my blind. I was getting nervous. Quickly and unexpectedly I heard something rushing through the forest as if it had purpose. I looked to my right and there it was!!!
Unicorn to the rescue. The only beast on the entire earth that can scare a polar bear away. The polar bear about faced and hightailed it outta there! It was a beautiful thing to witness. The unicorn pawed at the ground and snorted then neighed, winnied and brayed in delight. It made a few turns and reared on its back legs pawing at the air with it's front legs and then began to graze. I decided to leave the blind to go pet it and say thank you. As I approached the unicorn it quickly popped up it's head in fear. It paused and looked over my shoulder. It then suddenly whirled around and quickly ran away into the forest. I nervously whipped around to see what had frightened it. Walking through the parking lot was this "sketchy guy" ( sketch + guy. "sketchy guy" Get it? Nevermind )
With a big sigh of relief and knowing I then had nothing to fear, I said, "Dee Bee! What's up Man!?" He responded, "I'm looking for money" I said, "I can spot you ten" He annoyingly said, "No! Bundles of money!" I said, "Oh! You want some help?" I'd given up on The Prius search and looking for bundles of money sounded like more fun. He accepted my help. Up the trail we went. We searched under logs, in boulder fields, up in the trees. We searched for hours. Me, wanting to make a little chit-chat while we were searching, I said, "Hey Dee Bee. Can I ask you a personal question?" Dee Bee said, "sure!" I said, "how come your face looks like a sketch?" He said, "birth defect". I thought about that poor ugly squirrel. I still had the slingshot tucked into my back pocket but I was out of Peanut M&M's. It was Dee Bees lucky day and I also didn't want to attract another polar bear. Also found out that the only thing that can scare away a unicorn is DB Copper. The Discovery Channel didn't teach me that one. I guess I missed that episode. I eventually got bored with it and told Dee Bee I'd had enough. He thanked me for the help. I told him all about The Prius and asked if he'd ever seen one. He hadn't, but, said somewhere in the area we were searching was a... Dragons Tail! What???!!!! YES!!! Off I went in search of a Dragons Tail
Saw a lake, a walrus, a baby dragon on the trail, and some mountains but never saw a Dragons Tail nor The Prius. I'll try again

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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AlpineRose
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PostTue Oct 17, 2017 10:08 pm 
The Prius can be easily found in any number of Toyota car dealers lots. But, meh. That has no specialness to it at all. You have to drive up a really rough Forest Service road with Subaru-eating potholes and Jeep Wrangler-bashing rocks for a looong way. The longer, the better. The more remote, the better. Under those conditions, being able to claim a sighting of The Prius is super special. But remember, pics, or it didn't happen.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostTue Oct 17, 2017 10:40 pm 
What, no sasquatch or chupacabra? I guess you saw some kind of interesting wildlife. Seriously, best trip report of the year. up.gif Funny stuff.

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HitTheTrail
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 6:35 am 
Man oh man! You are starting to rank right up there with Granola Girl (and we all love her). Great TR. up.gif

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Bird in Hand
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 8:51 am 
Too bad about the ever elusive Prius. All the rest were pretty mundane and common sightings. Seriously funny report, great work and thanks for the laugh.

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tigermn
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 9:44 am 
I once saw a Prius parked at a snow park with chains on...

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degnaw
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 12:31 pm 
There's an old-school (02/03) Prius in the first photo! White sedan center-right smile.gif

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jdk610
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 12:48 pm 
degnaw wrote:
There's an old-school (02/03) Prius in the first photo! White sedan center-right smile.gif
Haaaaaaaaaa! Yes.

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Bootpathguy
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 2:04 pm 
HitTheTrail wrote:
Man oh man! You are starting to rank right up there with Granola Girl (and we all love her). Great TR. up.gif
Hmmmm...
Jus'sayn is all Anybody know what the amount of the reward is up to?

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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Nancyann
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 5:04 pm 
There is a suspicious resemblance there. huh.gif I love your story and beautiful photos, Bootpathguy, however I have never heard a unicorn bray..

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Leafguy
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 6:24 pm 
Bootpathguy wrote:
HitTheTrail wrote:
Man oh man! You are starting to rank right up there with Granola Girl (and we all love her). Great TR. up.gif
Hmmmm...
Jus'sayn is all Anybody know what the amount of the reward is up to?
You have been busted Lloyd!!!

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HitTheTrail
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 6:32 pm 
Nah, I have only had a necktie on a couple of times in my life and never with sunglasses.

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Julia
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 7:00 pm 
I spotted The Prius once at :drumroll: ... the Phelps Creek Trailhead!?!! Let that sink in ... hairy.gif

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
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AlpineRose
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PostWed Oct 18, 2017 8:53 pm 
Yup, exactly. Now that's what I call a "Prius Sighting". Gives you street cred now, Julia.

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Brushbuffalo
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PostThu Oct 19, 2017 2:08 pm 
Julia wrote:
I spotted The Prius once at :drumroll: ... the Phelps Creek Trailhead!?!! Let that sink in ...
Maybe the same person who drove the minivan I saw there in October of '16. Question is, which broke down first? quote="HitTheTrail"]You are starting to rank right up there with Granola Girl [/quote] Yeah, whatever happened to GG? Any Granola Girl sightings out there?

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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