Went to a place near Mt. Baker yesterday morning for a day hunt with a buddy. We got to the parking area early and started our hike. Put in just under 4 miles to get to the area that held good bears. It was a great day to be out but it seemed we were a little late for the bears. The snow had already started and most of the berries were getting scarce. We decided to scale this mountain. It was a bad idea.
This hike was hell. It was really steep and according to a topo map, we climbed about 1500'. We were going to try to hike to another section of trail that was across the mountain, but when we got close to the top, we were surrounded by cliffs and it was impossible to get through. We had no choice but to head back down, this was not as easy as it sounds. It was much too steep to just walk down and the hillside was covered with these slippery ground bush things. There was nothing stopping us from going down if we slipped and if we did slip, we were going all the way to the bottom. Ended up sitting on our butts and scooting most of the way down and safely got to the bottom. After this fiasco we were both pretty exhausted and decided to head back to the truck. So we are walking down the same trail we walked in on and have a somewhat barron hillside to our right and a steep downhill slope to our left. All of a sudden this bush comes alive at about 15 yards and both of us ready our rifles in case it is a bear. We see this animal that is brown and has a white butt and a black tail and both of us say "oh its just a deer." I am thinking "what in the heck is a deer doing hiding in a lone bush?" So the animal jumps down on our trail and it turns out to be a cougar! He didnt cause us any problems, just slinked down the trail and then turned to look at us for a few seconds before he headed over the side and down into the thick stuff. This was the first time I have ever seen a cougar and it was amazing. I wish I would have been hunting with my muzzleloader, I would have been eating kitty for dinner.
