couple of my buddies were hiking the luge the other night around 9:30 and were stopped by a mountain lion that was sitting in the middle of the trail. This was a fully grown adult, they said was Twice the size of a large dog. Said it looked like it was heading down the trail, and they spotted it about half way up. Did not seem scared of them and infact started coming closer. So anyways just want to give a little heads up, if you are considering riding STT/Luge, oniell park or whiting be aware of your surroundInge. Likely it could still be in the area. I also saw a mountain lion at the top of San Juan trail 3 weeks ago. Go figure, they are out there.
There is a female that lived in the canyon of the Luge a year or two ago - I know of several sightings. And hubby got to see a healthy beauty on the road out from a sunset ride from the bottom of San Juan. That one had a collar.
Thanks for the note on the sighting. Glad to hear the cats are feeling comfortable in their home. The advice about being aware of surroundings should be SOP whenever you are on trails, not just after someone happens to see a lion. I'm always amused when someone catches a glimpse of what is there all of the the time anyway, then suddenly people become vigilant about a threat to their safety. The lion you see isn't the one that should concern you.
Back in the early night riding months of this year we were told that a Cat passed between our group and the guy behind us. it was just before the last big switch before descending to the flag.
Well in the past I had seen prints occasionally but never thought much of it. But after this I probably won't be working on the luge at night by my self anymore. Reality check!
It is probably ok. Last December I was riding Space at night and sitting at the top I would hear the chaparral explode. Being solo and being night I would slam on the lid and take off. This happened more than once. I call it sonic motivation, you know it can catch you but, I at least wanted to make it a sport, and not just a mercy killing. Happy night trails on the edge of civilization. BTW not many things crash the chaparral at night.