Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Before I begin, I know there was a movie in the 80's with the same title as my blog post, and that's great (huge mounds of mashed potatoes rock!)...but the question that comes to mind right away is, "What are the other two kinds of close encounters?" I mean, if there is a THIRD kind, shouldn't there be a FIRST and SECOND? And, if so, what are they? Anyway...stupid thought for the morning.

On with the show...

So yesterday, after the excellent advice of my good friend Tk, I decided that I would hike Refrigerator Canyon which resides about 20 miles North of Helena (about meaning "more than 20 miles on a road, but if you were to fly there, it would be close to that"). In reality, it takes almost an hour to get there via vehicle.

I got up around the normal time and just did odds and ends stuff around the house until 7, at which time I went to my favorite local coffee shop and got a bagel and just talked with the people working there. I had loaded my truck with some water, my camera, a pack and a walking pole and considered myself ready.

The directions to get there are fairly simple...head north on York road till you get to the York Bar (best hamburgers in America...or at least the best in York, Montana), where you turn left and continue on till you reach Nelson (a thriving town of about 10 houses). At the fork in the road, go right for I want to say 5 miles or so to the trail head. WATCH OUT...the road is a VERY windy road that is a little wider than a vehicle with a drop off on one side and a cliff wall on the other. Add to this the fact that the scenery is amazing and you can have some scares (I did...oops). Seriously though...go slow and enjoy the views.

The trailhead itself is rather nondescript...kind unmaintained looking. I got all my gear together and put on a fleece vest and decided I wouldn't need the hiking pole, and started walking.

Refrigerator Canyon is very aptly named. It's cold. VERY cold. I don't really get cold...ever...and I had some serious goosebumps and my fingertips were turning blue. Cold, I tell ya! The first 1/2 mile is actually just leading up to the coldest part...a water-cut tunnel through two very large cliffs.

There is at least 2 very cool places you can look down into the canyon once you get a couple miles down the trail. One of them even has guard rails as the drop off is rather steep and...well...you wouldn't make it if you happened to fall down there. I figured out the timer on my camera and took my first real self-portrait at that one because it looked cool. The sights did, I mean...not me.

I hiked on from there for about another 2 miles or so, having seen a badger for all of .498 seconds (but hey...I've now seen a badger!) until I heard something strange. I stopped and heard it a couple more times: "Mew...mew...mew." I shifted my weight just a bit and broke a stick. Silence. It had sounded like a cat...one that wasn't that old, but it was loud enough for me to hear over my bear bell that was attached to my pack as well as my walking. "Well, that's not good," I thought to myself. "If there are baby cats out here...the mama cat probably isn't that far away." I started looking up in the trees in the hopes that I might be able to see the big mama cat before she decided to pounce on me, but I didn't see anything.

I decided that standing there looking like a buffet probably wasn't the best idea, so I walked on for about another quarter mile, constantly scanning the trees and looking side to side and even pulling "Crazy Ivan's" (Russian submarine captains would turn their ship around to check out what was behind them) every once in a while, just to make sure. I figured that after a quarter mile, I should turn back. I made a good bit more noise going back through that area than I had while coming in...hoping that whatever was there would kindly leave me alone. I did "Crazy Ivan's" pretty much most of the rest of the way back to the truck...just to be sure.

I left and saw a mountain goat (another first for me), but it zipped away before I could get it's picture. Next time...

So...once I got home, I talked with a couple people who told me that, yes, there were mountain lions in the area I had walked through and that, yes, the baby ones will sound like cats meowing and that, yes, I was probably stalked for a while and that the nervous feeling I had was my subconscious realizing I could have been a tasty morsel. Thankfully, with Tk's help, I now know what you are supposed to do in that situation (I didn't do anything bad...whew), so I'll be better prepared for next time...because, let's face it...there WILL be a next time.