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| no partners | | Strayhorse Campground is a nice place to camp if traveling the scenic Coronado highway, or looking for a convenient spot to camp before embarking on a hike, or backpack from the trails that begin near this campground. The restrooms are in great shape, however, some of the other amenities such as the shelters and picnic tables are starting to deteriorate.
We did not plan on staying at Strayhorse due to the warm temperatures and its lower elevation, but KP Campground was full and it was just for one night of sleeping, so I decided we would just camp there for convenience sake on Thursday night.
Little did we know that the KP campground being full would lead to one of our most memorable wildlife viewing experiences.
After making a winding turn a little less than one mile from the campground, we saw in the middle of the road and brightly lit by our headlights not one, but two mountain lions. Both of our jaws dropped and I instinctively put up the windows, as Blanco had also noticed what we were staring at nearly frozen in awe. It was only a short viewing, but they still captivated me and I don't think I will ever forget the brief experience. One of the lions seemed to be a little confused, or in a playful mood and bounced up the center of the road for a few meters before seeking the shoulder of the road and the forest. The other lion was a little quicker to the punch and immediately jumped off the road, however, it stayed on the shoulder for about 5 seconds or so. When the short viewing experiences was over, I started chuckling to myself and Jackie asked, "what was up?" I said in kind of a frustrated that I could not believe I did not think to take a picture. Her exact words were, "who cares, you saw it." A good perspective I thought, sure I have no cool pictures to share and only my words to describe it, but I do believe the best memories are still kept in one's mind and not on memory cards, or websites and I feel I will probably remember those brief seconds like it was yesterday for a long time.
I know from my extensive time in the outdoors and the experiences of others, that those two lions will most likely be the only two I see in my entire life and although the middle of the road may not have been my chosen spot to see them, it definitely did not detract from the moment and I will always remain grateful of the rare sighting.
Final Notes:
I probably had a natural high of excitement for a good hour afterwards. I kept saying to Jackie, "so we did just see two mountain lions, right?" It sort of reminded me of seeing a rattler for the first time in a few months and how they are never on your mind until you see one. The lions had the same effect on us, Jackie was giving the dogs way less leeway around camp to explore than we normally do and we even thought about putting her little one inside the car for the night, but eventually the excitement wore off and we went to bed under our usual care free conditions. Perhaps the funniest thing that was said happened after the sighting when Jackie in an excited tone said, "Oh my God, they actually look like lions too!" I just king of laughed and was like duh.
The lions seemed sort of small to us and we kind of envisioned them as being young ones, with their nervous mother waiting on the side of the road. Although by small, I mean they appeared to weigh about 10-15 pounds or so less than Blanco. In hindsight, I have also thought that the one that hung out on the side of the road may have been the mother and we just did not get a very good look at her, as we were fixated on the confused/playful one in the road. I know the Blue Range is not for everyone, but it is experiences like this that will keep bringing me back. Its hard to describe, but you just can't get reach the levels of true wilderness found out there in other places in my opinion. |
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