daLunartik
10-23-2006, 10:24 AM
I would not normally post report on a mountain I had climbed & reported on a month ago, however a few items qualified this as a "reportable" hike.
We had gotten a really late start for this hike, arriving at the Biscuit Brook trailhead at 1pm. We knew we would be hiking out in the dark, and most likely in the rain. As we were gearing up, a bow hunter arrived and headed into the woods ahead of us. We noticed he didn't sign in the register :) . Passed a few more hikers on the way to the Lean To, where we took a quick breather. Last month I had stayed on the trail too long, missed the ridge line completely and ended up scaling cliffs most of the way to Fir. What a difference catching the ridgeline made. We were on top of Fir in relatively short order. Signing into the canister, I noticed that Bookah had been there the day before, and had brought Peakbagr and i12climbup with her. ;)
Looking at the time, we decided to head for Big Indian. Started heading for the col and this time my previous trips experience was a bit of a hinderance. Last month, I had dropped down too quickly, and had to skirt the cliffs. With that in mind, I kept us on the summit too long, we passed the col, and had to double back. Added .5 mi and 25 mins to the trip. By the time we were climbing Big Indian, HauntedFox's knee was acting up, and she needed to take a second dose of the anti-inflammatory horse pill she was given. Can't take it on an empty stomach, and with daylight rapidly dwindling, she pushed on till we finally hit the summit. We had just enough light to open the cannister, however headlamps were necessary to sign in. Interestingly enough, since my trip month earlier, I counted 19+ folks at Fir, and only 6 new additions on Big Indian. As my friend said "This mountain did not impress me, at all." - apparently, it didn't impress to many other folks either!
As we started our decent, it was hard to tell if it was a light sleet or snow fall coming down, but what ever it was, it was cold and windy and plenty of incentive to get below the windline. At somepoint above 3000', we encountered a bear. At least, I am fairly sure it was a bear - every primordial instinct I have was screaming BEAR!. As were walking, I saw very large eyes ahead of us, which caused me to immediately stop and say "Eyes up ahead". Two conflicting thoughts entered my head - it's a bobcat because of the reflective eyes, and it's a deer, because of how high off the ground they appeared. It blinked a few times, then turned and lopped off the right about 20' and stopped to peer at us again. The way it moved eliminated a deer (in my mind), and made me think of every nature program I have ever seen that had bears moving. When it stopped a second time, I mentally drew a bears face around the eyes, and said out loud - "Oh, thats a Bear. HEY BEAR!!!" and started banging my hiking poles together, while HauntedFox pick up a stick and started banging on rocks. Off it went, never closer than 30 or 40 feet from us. May not have been a bear, but I'm marking it off in my book. :tup:
The adrenaline from that encounter carried us well down the hill and over the Biscuit Brook. Both of us were fairly fatigued by then, and had both picked up a case of "sloppy foot". Shortly after the lean to, we both stopped and stared at two ethereal forms dancing in the air, before our muddled brains realized it was a pair of Lunar Moths in a mating dance. Very cool.
Made it to the car at 10pm, 10 miles and 9 hours later. On the way out, shortly before the Slide Mtn. Parking Area, we saw a coyote standing in the road.
We had gotten a really late start for this hike, arriving at the Biscuit Brook trailhead at 1pm. We knew we would be hiking out in the dark, and most likely in the rain. As we were gearing up, a bow hunter arrived and headed into the woods ahead of us. We noticed he didn't sign in the register :) . Passed a few more hikers on the way to the Lean To, where we took a quick breather. Last month I had stayed on the trail too long, missed the ridge line completely and ended up scaling cliffs most of the way to Fir. What a difference catching the ridgeline made. We were on top of Fir in relatively short order. Signing into the canister, I noticed that Bookah had been there the day before, and had brought Peakbagr and i12climbup with her. ;)
Looking at the time, we decided to head for Big Indian. Started heading for the col and this time my previous trips experience was a bit of a hinderance. Last month, I had dropped down too quickly, and had to skirt the cliffs. With that in mind, I kept us on the summit too long, we passed the col, and had to double back. Added .5 mi and 25 mins to the trip. By the time we were climbing Big Indian, HauntedFox's knee was acting up, and she needed to take a second dose of the anti-inflammatory horse pill she was given. Can't take it on an empty stomach, and with daylight rapidly dwindling, she pushed on till we finally hit the summit. We had just enough light to open the cannister, however headlamps were necessary to sign in. Interestingly enough, since my trip month earlier, I counted 19+ folks at Fir, and only 6 new additions on Big Indian. As my friend said "This mountain did not impress me, at all." - apparently, it didn't impress to many other folks either!
As we started our decent, it was hard to tell if it was a light sleet or snow fall coming down, but what ever it was, it was cold and windy and plenty of incentive to get below the windline. At somepoint above 3000', we encountered a bear. At least, I am fairly sure it was a bear - every primordial instinct I have was screaming BEAR!. As were walking, I saw very large eyes ahead of us, which caused me to immediately stop and say "Eyes up ahead". Two conflicting thoughts entered my head - it's a bobcat because of the reflective eyes, and it's a deer, because of how high off the ground they appeared. It blinked a few times, then turned and lopped off the right about 20' and stopped to peer at us again. The way it moved eliminated a deer (in my mind), and made me think of every nature program I have ever seen that had bears moving. When it stopped a second time, I mentally drew a bears face around the eyes, and said out loud - "Oh, thats a Bear. HEY BEAR!!!" and started banging my hiking poles together, while HauntedFox pick up a stick and started banging on rocks. Off it went, never closer than 30 or 40 feet from us. May not have been a bear, but I'm marking it off in my book. :tup:
The adrenaline from that encounter carried us well down the hill and over the Biscuit Brook. Both of us were fairly fatigued by then, and had both picked up a case of "sloppy foot". Shortly after the lean to, we both stopped and stared at two ethereal forms dancing in the air, before our muddled brains realized it was a pair of Lunar Moths in a mating dance. Very cool.
Made it to the car at 10pm, 10 miles and 9 hours later. On the way out, shortly before the Slide Mtn. Parking Area, we saw a coyote standing in the road.