Message posted by lone wolf on May 06, 2005 at 18:17:31 PST:

I forgot one important item: toilet paper. ;-) You may want matches to set a camp fire. There are a few rings already made and there should be a BBQ grate. A flashlight comes in handy to make drivers on the ET highway think they are seeing a UFO. I also bring a few of those chemical glow sticks and set them on the ground. There are lots of rocks to trip over at night. The glow sticks don't ruin your nightvision. The mice don't like the light. Animals don't like the smell of smoke, so lighting a fire isn't all that bad of an idea, but use common sense. I'd sure hate to be at the top of Tikaboo and have a fire block my escape route.

I always keep the tent zipped up so that no critters get in, and the sleeping bag in the tent. [I think it was Jim Bob that told me that once he was picking up trash by the photo spot under the Nellis flight path when he realized he got a critter in the bag somehow. Of course, he was on the road at this point.]

The walking stick comes in handy for putting impulses on the ground to let the critters know you are coming so that they can scurry off. Shoes are just to soft to make any noise. I routinely poke at any brush near where I plan on sitting my arse down just to make sure there are no critters hiding. When I was checking out that old F4 crash I whacked the side of a piece of the tail section and some rabbits jumped out. You never want to lift something without making a bit of noise first.

I see at least 10x the wildlife in the coastal ranges than I do in the desert, so the odds are certainly in your favor on the Tikaboo hike.

The good thing about a cat attack is you won't get time to react. They go right for the back of your neck, sever the spinal cord, causing paralysis. If you've seen the cat, it has most likely already figured you are not too tasty and isn't going to bother you. Still, I'd slowly leave the area or just let the cat move away. I was hiking Pt. Reyes and had a cat jump on the trail ahead of me, so I assume it had already stalked from the hill above and wasn't interested. However, it walked the trail for some time before darting away into the brush. I think it would have been quite a sight to be coming from the other direction and see a big cat approaching.

In Reply to: Re: Some Questions posted by Frank Stamm on May 06, 2005 at 16:49:28 PST:

Replies: