AZ Jim
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- SURPRISE, ARIZONA
Jim and the Mountain Lion
When I was younger I spent every moment free from my job out camping somewhere. I have camped in my old truck with its canvas covered truck bed to motorhomes, travel trailers, tents and just a station wagon. I never camped in campgrounds, always away from others and in some out of the way place. I have camped in Mexico back in the 50’s on the beaches down as far as Santo Thomas, San Quintin. In those days you could not go down further than 60 miles without a passport but my first wife spoke fluent Spanish (she was Mexican American) so when we got stopped at the checkpoint she told the guards we wanted to go further and hoped they would permit it. They always did. Now this was long before the freeway that now goes all the way down. Roads were simple two lane highways. Along the road under Palm thatched huts they sold fresh lobsters which they boiled in large kettles. You could buy a huge lobster for 1 US Dollar. They were fresh and delicious. I had many fine adventures down there in those days.
But, I digress. Mountain Lion. When I had only a weekend to go somewhere I used to explore the back country of San Diego country. There was a valley in East county called Conejo (Rabbit) valley. It was a perilous journey to get there due to the very narrow dirt road which had a steep drop off on one side but my old ’55 Ford pickup could handle it.
One weekend I headed out there and got setup, started my little gas stove to brew coffee and since there was a clean little stream there I decided that since the water would be boiled making coffee it would be safe to use some. I went over to the stream which was bordered by a high rocky embankment on one side and just as I leaned over to scoop up the water I saw a movement in my peripheral vision, I turned and there, staring at me was a large mountain lion on the other side of the little stream. This stream was no more than 5’ from one side to the other. That cat was about 10’ away from me to my right. I abandoned the water idea and slowly backed off and to my camper.
Later that day I decided (not one of my better ideas) to climb up the embankment and see where the cat went. As I was picking my way up it finally dawned on me that, that cat could see me long before I saw it and she may be up there with a cub to protect. That is when sanity kicked in and I retreated.
I spent the weekend without seeing the cat again but believe me, I was looking all the time where I was walking.
When I was younger I spent every moment free from my job out camping somewhere. I have camped in my old truck with its canvas covered truck bed to motorhomes, travel trailers, tents and just a station wagon. I never camped in campgrounds, always away from others and in some out of the way place. I have camped in Mexico back in the 50’s on the beaches down as far as Santo Thomas, San Quintin. In those days you could not go down further than 60 miles without a passport but my first wife spoke fluent Spanish (she was Mexican American) so when we got stopped at the checkpoint she told the guards we wanted to go further and hoped they would permit it. They always did. Now this was long before the freeway that now goes all the way down. Roads were simple two lane highways. Along the road under Palm thatched huts they sold fresh lobsters which they boiled in large kettles. You could buy a huge lobster for 1 US Dollar. They were fresh and delicious. I had many fine adventures down there in those days.
But, I digress. Mountain Lion. When I had only a weekend to go somewhere I used to explore the back country of San Diego country. There was a valley in East county called Conejo (Rabbit) valley. It was a perilous journey to get there due to the very narrow dirt road which had a steep drop off on one side but my old ’55 Ford pickup could handle it.
One weekend I headed out there and got setup, started my little gas stove to brew coffee and since there was a clean little stream there I decided that since the water would be boiled making coffee it would be safe to use some. I went over to the stream which was bordered by a high rocky embankment on one side and just as I leaned over to scoop up the water I saw a movement in my peripheral vision, I turned and there, staring at me was a large mountain lion on the other side of the little stream. This stream was no more than 5’ from one side to the other. That cat was about 10’ away from me to my right. I abandoned the water idea and slowly backed off and to my camper.
Later that day I decided (not one of my better ideas) to climb up the embankment and see where the cat went. As I was picking my way up it finally dawned on me that, that cat could see me long before I saw it and she may be up there with a cub to protect. That is when sanity kicked in and I retreated.
I spent the weekend without seeing the cat again but believe me, I was looking all the time where I was walking.
