working and hiking
So, I've finished day 5 of 19 days of straight work. I'm trying to get a project for the Jawls wrapped up, as it's Friday and furniture is being installed on Monday and there is still so much work to be done. Even if there wasn't furniture being installed, the fact is that there is a different Jawl project I'm working on which is supposed to be complete for next weekend, and I've hardly done a thing there! On top of this, Dave left for Cambodia and I've been left to clean up his mess. I've got to get a TV up and running in an office downtown by Wednesday so it can be used. This may seem easy, but it involves running power to a floor box under a table and running wires from the TV down the wall, through the concrete floor, and up under that same table with the floor box. Currently, there aren't enough hours in the day. I haven't worked 19 days in a row since we were working on The Atrium...
In the other part of my life, I love taking Luna for hikes in the evenings for the sake of getting myself some exercise, and for the sake of her loving the woods and hikes. I don't mind hiking on Mt. Doug at night on my own, or anywhere I'm familiar with for that matter. I'm cautious...take my whole SAR kit with me so I'm well prepared, and I've got in the habit of letting Tash know that I'm going in case I don't show up to pick her up or something. After tonight though, I probably won't go hiking at night on my own any more. I took her up the side of Mt. Doug from Blenkinsop Road. I'm familiar with that side, though not as familiar as I am with the side from Cedar Hill Rd.
Anyways, I'm hiking up the side of the mountain with Luna off leash. She picked up on a scent and started searching for it. That's normal, and she always comes back so I don't worry about her any more. She came back and we kept going, though she didn't stop sniffing around as we were walking. I stopped at one point to adjust my headlamp and was able to hear branches cracking from being walked on by some animal in some bushes down below us...probably 150' away at my best guess. I stood on a rocky hill overlooking that forested area and scanned around for eyes reflecting off my light. I found a pair, but they were through some heavy brush so I couldn't see what type of animal it was. It turned away from me and I could tell it was starting to move to the right a bit. Typically it's just a deer or raccoon. Luna was pretty agitated though, and eventually came and stood by me also looking down in the forest where I was shining my light, occasionally growling. I grabbed on to her harness and put her back on leash. I then gave her a command which sometimes makes her howl. It worked, and then there was eyes looking back up at me again. They had moved a bit and I moved a bit to get a better look through the brush. It looked away from me and walked to the right again. It was tough to see perfectly clearly, and my eyes could have been playing tricks on me, but I could tell it was brown, and the legs looked much shorter and more muscular than a deer, and I thought I saw a tail. I was pretty confident at that point that I was looking at a cougar through the trees. Then there was a second set of eyes about 10`away from it looking up at me. That made me think I was probably mistaken and it was probably a deer, seeing as I don`t think Cougars typically hang out in pairs or groups. I did google that when I got home and found that they sometimes hang out in pairs when they mate, or when it`s a mom with her offspring, but those are the only exceptions.
Regardless of what it was, it had me pretty nervous and I decided to walk back down to the truck, constantly checking over my shoulder. At one point on the walk down when I stopped and scanned around, I once again saw a pair of eyes looking at me. They were a bit closer this time, on level ground to me (I no longer had any tactical advantage over them) and if it was the same animal, it had moved quite a bit closer to where we were coming down, as though it was moving to intercept or stalk. Again, it could have been any kind of animal, and could have been a completely different one from the first two. Fortunately, we were only about 100`away from the truck at this point and just kept moving until we got to it.
I really want to go back there tomorrow with a second person and without the dog, and look for tracks or other evidence of animals in the area where I saw the eyes looking back at me. If I could prove that it was just a deer, chances are I could handle taking Luna back up Mt. Doug on my own at night. I hate that I`m too nervous to now.
Anyways, Tash should be home from work soon and I should wash some dishes.
Cheers!
In the other part of my life, I love taking Luna for hikes in the evenings for the sake of getting myself some exercise, and for the sake of her loving the woods and hikes. I don't mind hiking on Mt. Doug at night on my own, or anywhere I'm familiar with for that matter. I'm cautious...take my whole SAR kit with me so I'm well prepared, and I've got in the habit of letting Tash know that I'm going in case I don't show up to pick her up or something. After tonight though, I probably won't go hiking at night on my own any more. I took her up the side of Mt. Doug from Blenkinsop Road. I'm familiar with that side, though not as familiar as I am with the side from Cedar Hill Rd.
Anyways, I'm hiking up the side of the mountain with Luna off leash. She picked up on a scent and started searching for it. That's normal, and she always comes back so I don't worry about her any more. She came back and we kept going, though she didn't stop sniffing around as we were walking. I stopped at one point to adjust my headlamp and was able to hear branches cracking from being walked on by some animal in some bushes down below us...probably 150' away at my best guess. I stood on a rocky hill overlooking that forested area and scanned around for eyes reflecting off my light. I found a pair, but they were through some heavy brush so I couldn't see what type of animal it was. It turned away from me and I could tell it was starting to move to the right a bit. Typically it's just a deer or raccoon. Luna was pretty agitated though, and eventually came and stood by me also looking down in the forest where I was shining my light, occasionally growling. I grabbed on to her harness and put her back on leash. I then gave her a command which sometimes makes her howl. It worked, and then there was eyes looking back up at me again. They had moved a bit and I moved a bit to get a better look through the brush. It looked away from me and walked to the right again. It was tough to see perfectly clearly, and my eyes could have been playing tricks on me, but I could tell it was brown, and the legs looked much shorter and more muscular than a deer, and I thought I saw a tail. I was pretty confident at that point that I was looking at a cougar through the trees. Then there was a second set of eyes about 10`away from it looking up at me. That made me think I was probably mistaken and it was probably a deer, seeing as I don`t think Cougars typically hang out in pairs or groups. I did google that when I got home and found that they sometimes hang out in pairs when they mate, or when it`s a mom with her offspring, but those are the only exceptions.
Regardless of what it was, it had me pretty nervous and I decided to walk back down to the truck, constantly checking over my shoulder. At one point on the walk down when I stopped and scanned around, I once again saw a pair of eyes looking at me. They were a bit closer this time, on level ground to me (I no longer had any tactical advantage over them) and if it was the same animal, it had moved quite a bit closer to where we were coming down, as though it was moving to intercept or stalk. Again, it could have been any kind of animal, and could have been a completely different one from the first two. Fortunately, we were only about 100`away from the truck at this point and just kept moving until we got to it.
I really want to go back there tomorrow with a second person and without the dog, and look for tracks or other evidence of animals in the area where I saw the eyes looking back at me. If I could prove that it was just a deer, chances are I could handle taking Luna back up Mt. Doug on my own at night. I hate that I`m too nervous to now.
Anyways, Tash should be home from work soon and I should wash some dishes.
Cheers!