New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #19

My best and worst lion sighting was way back up the north fork of the Kings river with Herb.  I came out of the woods into a little clearing next to the river and there was a large male lion standing across the river.  He looked at me and then at the river, then at me.  After doing that a few times he decided I wasn't worth the effort and walked off into the woods.  The whole time I was looking at him and looking at the river.  The difference was that I figured down the river was my only chance for escape while he just saw it as an inconvenience.

I've also seen mountain lions in the southern sierra a couple other times.

One of my most fun animal sightings was in Kings Canyon, also with Herb.  We were driving out from the end of the canyon and a truck in front of us was going really slow.  Herb went to pass when he realized there was a bear jogging along in front of the truck.  As we pulled up alongside the bear he freaked and dove off the side of the road and into the river.  The only problem as that there was a woman flyfishing on the other side of the river right there.  She saw the bear barreling at her and thru her rod up in the air and turned to run.  The bear saw her and jumped up the other direction to run away.  We almost drove off the road we were laughing so hard!  Damn but it was cartoon funny!!!

That's cruel but very, very funny.

Photo by same dude, Randy Robbins posted today. 

Nice mouse story, Jan!  I love the visual of mice running circles in a pan!  Great stories also, Kristian!  We apparently really do have mountain lions here now… and yes it is disconcerting.  Neighbors also reporting encounters. 

I used to hike alone a lot in Auburn and Cool and became increasingly fearful of mountain lions. One woman was killed by a lion while jogging and there were other direct attacks… so I was watching everywhere around me, in bushes, behind rocks.    Finally I went to the local sporting store to ask about a gun or spray… this is when I learned how ignorant I was. It was pointed out by the hunters there that mountain lions lurk in trees… they spring from ABOVE. Oh my god to think of all the trees I passed under, watching the ground so closely. I guess the strikes are so fierce and to the head there’s no real time to pull out the pepper spray and give them a good squirt.

Not to bring up climbing, but   yesterday I took my first real walk out on the Loop.. and got distracted when I saw the Sentinel and remembered that young man who recently died on Illusion Dweller. I walked back there just to view that beautiful route and others nearby. As I sat there thinking about my two journeys up that route I thought about how worn out I got both times, wondering how I could have made it easier. It was no fun slugging my way up that crack. 

I think maybe something concrete I could work on is moving through cruxes more quickly, efficiently.  Bob has said many times “Don’t hang out, Lori. Don’t waste your energy there.”  When it gets physically challenging I tend to stall.  Or I want the move to succeed so I gather myself for it.  Bob has said “Wherever you put your foot is the right placement. It’s not going to get any better than that.”  

I’d like to try Illusion Dweller again some day with that intention… moving quickly through the hard parts.  Not hanging out.  

after work delight. 

Idaho Bobwrote:

That would be nice, but I'll be in EPC.  From your pictures it looks like you had quite the ice storm.

It was! We lost power for three days. It really put us in the mood for some desert sun.

I am sorry we will miss you in Red Rock, but maybe we can catch up in CoR when the season hits.

I had a really fun day today climbing with our Sam C. The wind was blowing so hard - crazy at the top of some routes. Sam took good care of me - not only did he rope gun some good routes, he also volunteered to carry the rope! I love climbing! And my partners. 

I see lions occasionally, typically at least a couple hundred yards from our house, but we have seen them less than 100 yards away.  We live very rural in the middle of BLM land and have a wash just outside our front door that's fed by a year-round spring coming to the surface about 200' from the house.  The water in a high desert environment attracts a lot of wildlife, including large amounts of deer (herds of 20-30+ not uncommon) coming/going during the winter when they come to lower elevation, and I suspect it's the deer that are the main attraction for the lions (we have seen an obvious deer kill from a lion.)  In general, I don't worry too much as we have 3 large Great Pyrenees and according to F&W personnel the cats don't like dogs because they remember being treed by them for collaring purposes - but still...

The last time I saw one was a couple of months ago.  I took a break after working on a fence and when returning just prior to dusk to pick up tools I saw a lion slink through the fence almost exactly where I had been working so it could get into the trees in the wash.  Given how much I'm in the wash and how casual I can get it did wake me back up to the fact that we have large cats around (to go with the bobcats.)

Our wash is great for wildlife.  Great horned owls - very cool to see fledglings peering down, redtails - again cool when you get to see fledglings, bobcats, raccoons, lions, deer, the rare bear visit, and of course - the occasional rattlesnake.  We have some great bobcat stories, from seeing cats 15' outside our front door to watching one sitting on the hillside just outside our kitchen window calmly looking in and checking things out.

Nope, don't miss the city in the least.

Started climbing again last week, doing more this week.  The hip is functional and feeling good.  Biggest problems are getting pumped, no callous, and top end flexion for high steps.  I'm not a baby stepper, so I'll be glad when I regain full range high-step mobility.

ken. Its not bad for something I can hit up after work. top outs are thin and funky this year. 

I wrote this piece about hard climbing after 50 that I thought y’all might enjoy:
https://eveningsends.com/project-thirteen-climbing-5-13-around-the-world-after-50/

And there’s a follow-on interview here:
https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/project-13-international-sport-climbing-travel

I also post more in-depth stories about the individual ascents in my IG.

- Jim
@jimlawyer

Alicia Sokolowskiwrote:

It was! We lost power for three days. It really put us in the mood for some desert sun.

I am sorry we will miss you in Red Rock, but maybe we can catch up in CoR when the season hits.

My first trip there will be June 12-24.  If you come to Idaho, think about spending a few days in McCall to climb Slickrock.  Room in our house for you and your family.  

Bouldering with the young ones.

I live in the "city," but close enough to the urban-wildland interface that there's no shortage of wildlife around. Owls in next door neighbors' trees. Deer aplenty, though not usually in groups of more than 5 or 6. Bears, bobcats, and mountain lions. Right now there are two (I think) mountain lions hanging out in our neighborhood - one spotted a block away from our house - making people very nervous. (Don't want them to be killed, but I hope they can be relocated.) Here's a photo I took pulling into our garage.

wendy weisswrote:

I live in the "city," but close enough to the urban-wildland interface that there's no shortage of wildlife around. Owls in next door neighbors' trees. Deer aplenty, though not usually in groups of more than 5 or 6. Bears, bobcats, and mountain lions.

Wendy, your neighborhood sounds like my neighborhood - suburban on the surface but a veritable wildlife menagerie at night.  The current popularity of security cameras means the photo evidence is captured nightly.  While out walking, I have seen bobcat, numerous coyote, and once a mountain lion.

Jan mentioned not seeing bighorn in Josh. Oddly, I have seen them on a suburban hike in Palm Springs. I’ve also seen them in Rock Creek and Pine Creek in CA, and in Red Rock in NV several places. Once in the later place, heard and then saw two males fighting  - that went on for at least 30 minutes.

phylp phylpwrote:

Wendy, your neighborhood sounds like my neighborhood - suburban on the surface but a veritable wildlife menagerie at night.  The current popularity of security cameras means the photo evidence is captured nightly.  While out walking, I have seen bobcat, numerous coyote, and once a mountain lion.

Jan mentioned not seeing bighorn in Josh. Oddly, I have seen them on a suburban hike in Palm Springs. I’ve also seen them in Rock Creek and Pine Creek in CA, and in Red Rock in NV several places. Once in the later place, heard and then saw two males fighting  - that went on for at least 30 minutes.

I've seen a few coyotes and bears, but no bobcats or mountain lions. Security camera photos and videos taken nearby are posted on next door almost every day.

Jim Lawyerwrote:

I wrote this piece about hard climbing after 50 that I thought y’all might enjoy:
https://eveningsends.com/project-thirteen-climbing-5-13-around-the-world-after-50/

And there’s a follow-on interview here:
https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/project-13-international-sport-climbing-travel

I also post more in-depth stories about the individual ascents in my IG.

- Jim
@jimlawyer

Very cool!

Any thoughts/tips/resources on training hard in your 50s?

Here's a shot I took of some Bighorn at Joshua Tree. I've seen a lot of Bighorn at JTree over the years, probably 'cause I'm out there so much during less crowded times. One time I saw a bunch of Bighorn actually down climb a 5.4 route! And of course I had violated my camera rule: If you don't have a camera with you, you'll miss a great shot.

One time at Red Rocks, in Icebox Canyon, I was leading a route on Necromancer Wall and a Bighorn with huge horns showed up from out of nowhere and jumped over my belayer who was perched between boulders, a distance of about 15 feet. 

My wife was closely buzzed by a coyote on several occasions while running down a grassy and wooded median on a city street in our neighborhood. (We think it’s the same coyote and that it’s a game) Our neighbors’ koi ponds are regularly raided by raccoons, and a buddy’s dog was accosted and bitten by a raccoon family during a walk to the dog park. Then, there is the giant owl of some type that lives in the park across the street, littering the ground with dismembered pigeons. Twice I saw mountain lions crossing the road in the Abq. foothills during an early morning road ride, while another time a black bear leapt the guardrail right in front of me while I was riding up Sandia Peak. That fucker was fast!!!

Took all these shots through my dining room window at my house in Joshua Tree. I keep a telephoto lens on my camera and leave it on the table. You've got to be ready when it comes to wildlife shots!

The other year when Jean and I were on our road trip, we stopped by Valley of Fire to look at some of the petroglyphs. I heard a noise above me and looked up. There were 2 bighorn sheep above me on the rocks. I called Jean and told her to look up to see them. We then stepped back to get a better look above us. There were about 10 or so of them. They then proceeded to jump from one cliff to another. The drop was about 30 feet down and about 10 feet across. 

A little while latter we then saw them again walking single file across the rocks way above us. The very cool part was that they went down a short gulley and up the other gulley. Each one waited until the one in front of them was on top.

You can see them here. One of them is down in the gulley on the left hand side.

Starting to go up the other side of the gulley.

Zoomed in photo of the gulley.

John

Great shots, Bob G!  Very nice!!