AK’s Adventures

Jim Hamm was attacked by a mountain lion in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Wednesday, and was rescued by his wife who stabbed the animal with a pen and hit it with a branch, which eventually led the cat to let go of her husband. Full story here.

This reminds me of my only encounter I had with a mountain lion, and it was during the inaugural Auburn Marathon two years ago. As I was running around Robie Trail (part of the WS100) alone, I sensed that something was around me, but couldn’t see/hear anything. Every few hundred feet, I’d stop and look and listen for what I was hoping was a deer or squirrel, but then I heard a low growl. Even though I’ve never heard one before, I knew it had to be a lion. That freaked me out so much that I managed to pick up the pace, and almost ran right passed a bench along the trail — it turned out to be a memorial for a runner who was killed by a mountain lion in 1994. That article here.

In 2004, two bikers were attacked in Orange County — Mark Reynolds, unfortunately did not survive.