Aimlessly wandering about the woods

[John Kasaian]

....looking for abstracts in Nature. Not my usual cup o' tea but so be it.

I'm walking down a paved road that has recently been cut & paved, then closed to motorized traffic for some reason only administrative or enviremental mucky-mucks know. The road also runs through mountain lion habitat and every so often I see a warning sign posted. I am alone with my 'dorff in a pack and unarmed except for my tripod over my shoulder and the thought occurs to me that to a mountain lion I must look like a little dish with sushi on it, floating around a sushi bar on the deck of a little toy wooden junk.

I turn a corner and there it is----not a cougar but a cut bank with trees on top and a deliciously visual composition of roots and large rocks under the forest duff. A rare peek into the underground world. The road at this point is heavily shaded and the sun is setting, I'm tired from humping my kit over hill and dale and dusty trail and there is the nagging fear of becoming a mountain lion's dinner. After pausing to admire this little treasure of Nature and hike on, racing the setting sun back to the truck. Someday I'll return, I tell myself. Yeah, someday ( I did have my little point and shoot Olympus with me, but the composition seemed to scream "LF!" and I didn't want to insult the Land by using 35mm.)

I wonder if anyone else has ever "chickened out" in getting a shot at a desireable composition for whatever "seemed like a good idea at the time" reason?

[Paul Coppin]

Well, I don't have mountain lions (unless you believe the "eye-witness" reports and rumours) to consider in the bush where I go, but there are (black) bears, and the occasional 2 legged varmint. However, I would say you wussed out... - you should have at least grabbed a shot with the Olympus. Never know, that might have been the money shot...
Cougars are a bit more of a concern than black bears in terms of taking you on, and if they are in the area, you do have to be wary. I bend a few rules for "self-defence" where I go sometimes, and thats a bigger deal in Canada. You might consider a can of bear spray as part of your belt kit if its a concern, or a small compressed air signalling horn from a marine shop - the loud noise just might make one back off.
Of course, you live in the US (I believe) so go get your CCW permit and a Para-Ord .45 ccw....

[Michael Graves]

Had the opposite happen. On the way out of Barbershop Canyon in northern Arizona, I had just finished shooting a Conceived by Nature ad featuring a scantily clad woman underneath the waterfall at the far end of the canyon. She had bitched and moaned the whole time we were hiking back in about how there should have been an easier way to get her back. The art director was somehow ignoring her.

After the shoot, the director and the model hiked back, leaving me and an assistant to break down and haul the gear out. (Hence my opinion of art directors, which I judiciously refrain from expressing here.) He and I are walking back out, loaded down with packs and carrying a case in each hand. We come around one bend and there in the mud next to the stream is a HUGE mountain lion paw print. I'm not suggesting it was fresh....but water was still seeping into it from the saturated ground.

"Think he got her?" I asked.

"Doubt it," the assistant replied. "Don't see any place where he spit her out."

But we were both a little paranoid walking out of that canyon from that point forward.

[GPS]

High time you got your 45PS Fotoman, John...

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Come on guys, mountain lions are cute and fuzzy. They wouldn't hurt anyone!

My problem is that I won't chicken out, regardless of the imminent danger. Many of my favorite shots have been made on the edge of cliffs. I also had a too close for comfort encounter with a western diamondback a few years ago in a remote canyon outside of Tucson. I was wandering through the dense desert scrub, looking for those abstract/closeup compositions. I developed a habit of walking around with my head still under the darkcloth, so that I can see how moving around is affecting the composition (kind of like how many 35mm and MF shooters work)- obviously, not the safest in a desert full of cacti and venomous creatures. As I was walking, a heard a buzzing sound, and then felt a whoosh of air past my leg. After removing my head from the dark hood, I saw a six foot long, pissed off rattler in strike position. He had apparently missed me by just inches, in an isolated spot a couple miles downhill from the road. I'm not sure that I would have had time to make it to the road if I had been bitten...

On a related note, has anyone out there had an encounter with a sasquatch while photographing?

[Eric James]

"Bearanoia" - a stark-raving case of it - has me avoiding some of the nicest areas around town. At least there is hibernation to look forward to. The year-round four-footed objective hazard up hear is moose, but I can deal - but MTN lion habitat or venemous snake habitat would have me shooting chickadees from the kitchen table. Fortunately Sasquatch is camera shy.

[Dan V]

I regularly bushwhack in the local rattler-infested and cougar-populated mountain parks looking for the elusive interesting scene to shoot.

Last spring while following a creek in search of subject matter, I came across what looked like a homeless person's camp. Visions of "Deliverance" came to mind and it kinda creeped me out, so I thought it best to reverse direction. Last week, I came across a homeless person in another local mountain park, and had the same reaction.

Since the law prohibits carrying a pistol for protection, I've resorted to carrying a large can of "bear spray" which may not be legal in California. So far I haven't had to use it, but it did attract the attention of two park rangers (who carried revolvers, so I was literally outgunned).

[John Kasaian]

Paul,
You're right, "wussed out" is a far more accurate term. The road is located in a National Park so taking a firearm along on a hike would definately not have been kosher.

Michael,
Great story!

GPS,
Unfortunately I was also loosing the light so it would have taken a looooong exposure. As much as I like handheld LF I don't think it would have worked in this case.


Brian,
Another great story! I've got a pair of Browning Snake Boots for that kind of animal life, but the things are so hot and heavy they aren't much fun to hike in.

Eric,
But bears are so cute! Maybe you can have a companion stand bear duty with a .375 H&H while you work, like the Department of Highways?

Dan,
An interesting problem. I think it was last year the cops found a "homeless" person living in a cave in the bluffs above a river about three miles from my house. The "homeless" person had a cache of weapons and several outstanding felony warrants for uncivilized conduct toward his fellow man.

Well, there goes the nieghborhood I guess!

[Deanne D]

After reading this comical string of natural-almost-disasters, I remember the girlscout, and scuba diving, and cave exploring rule: use the buddy system... have a look out who is armed with something noxious so you can focus on your duty to catch that image. Preferablely not the one of the bear eating your camera. LOL!

[John Kasaian]

Eric,

I just remembered that the only time I've seen a cougar in the wild was in the Yukon Territory, in November as he/she(I wasn't close enough to count the cheerios) strolled across a snowy Alaska Highway N. of Watson Lake. Absolutely beautiful! Of course I was in a truck--with the windows rolled up (I'm allergic to cats!) Anyway, that was in 1992 so that cougar ought to have made it to Alaska by now (just a 'heads up!")