Wyatt, Sabrina, Colter and I left Dimmitt Friday evening and drove to Brownfield where we picked up my brother-in-law Jerod. From there we headed out to the Guads. While driving on FR 540 in the forest I mentioned to Jerod that I would love to see a mountain lion sometime. Not 5 minutes later I began slowing down to avoid what I thought was another mule deer when I saw a large tawny colored cat with a thick tail slink across the road, my first mountain lion!
We arrived at our campsite for the night and set up the tent. The sky was clear and brilliant and several shooting stars traced across the heavens. The winds were quite high and we staked out the tent well before turning in around 1:45.
Morning dawned to continued high winds and a temperature of 36 degrees. We walked down to the lee side of the saddle we were camped at to cook breakfast. Following breakfast we pulled out the maps to decide on a route. My initial thought was to head over to Lonesome Ridge and explore. We ultimately decided to stay off the ridges to get out of the winds which were easily gusting around 50 miles per hour. Back in April we had explored some of the South Fork of Big Canyon and this time we decided to head north of the saddle into Middle Fork.
We loaded our packs and descended into the canyon. The area was heavily wooded with Douglas fir, Alligator juniper, ponderosa, maple and oak. Colter had decided to carry his bow and an arrow so that "if I see another mountain lion I will shoot it!"Our progress down the canyon was slow as the kids downclimbed small pouroffs and wound their way through the frequent deadfall.
Around 2:30 we merged with the main branch of the Middle Fork. We took a long lunch break while we considered whether to head up one of the ridges to find a spot for the night or to camp down in the canyon. We eventually decided to head upstream and see if we could find a good place to set up.
Finally, around 5:00 we found a sandy area large enough to pitch the tent. The winds which had been pounding the mountains all day were still roaring up along the ridges, but we were well protected in the canyon. We built a small fire, cooked burritos for dinner and by 7:30 we climbed in the tent to read stories.
Sunday morning brought a temperature of 28 degrees. The winds had died down during the night and the woods were silent. We fixed oatmeal for breakfast before packing up. Our route continued up canyon until the brush became thick enough to slow our progress. We then climbed up and out onto the ridge where we picked up a jeep road which we followed back to the truck. From there we drove to an area to do some shooting before heading on back home. It was a great trip highlighted by my first mountain lion sighting. We had absolute solitude while we were out.
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