We were all on the same basic mountain range, so we will count it as a group trip. Norma and Zach wanted to ascend Falling Rock Canyon. Camille and I thought that sounded crazy and somewhat unpleasant. I had a trail camera to maintain on Bighorn/Ontario ridge. We met at 7:30 at the trailhead, and decided to pick our own routes, but meet on Ontario Peak around 11am. The short walk from the parking lot to the FRC turnoff revealed a fresh set of mountain lion tracks - something I never would have expected on such a busy trail. So kitty had been through that evening, no doubt about it.
Zach and Norma headed up the rocky canyon, while Camille and I took the trail and followed the tracks all the way up to the saddle. Continuing on toward Kelly's Camp, we saw bighorn tracks, and here and there could still pick out the lion, who, like us, apparently prefers well graded trails.
At the ridge, Camille and I replaced the somewhat malfunctioning camera with one I know is working. I was happy to find one bighorn video, and know there will be many more in the next few weeks.
We hiked on toward Ontario, and shouted out various animal noises, and thought we heard some replies back from FRC. Norma and Zach made it up to the peak about 20 minutes before we did. Impressive!
A nice break on the summit with cool breezes, tree climbing, and several renditions of the national anthem entertained us for about an hour. Zach wanted to hit the Three Ts on the way back, and Norma wanted to show us Falling Rock ridge, and a bit of the canyon, so we split up once again. We did see more mtn. lion tracks, and fairly fresh scat on the ridgeline. (Someone has been helping to manage the bighorn population...
) I was nervous about the infamous scree slope, but it turned out to be fun, and not scary at all. The canyon was a jumble of small boulders and a few downclimbs. It was interesting, and I'm glad I saw it, but also glad I did not have to ascend it.
More stories and pics will follow, but for now here is a Very Special presentation of the FallingRockCreekOntarioPeakSnowCreek SCREAM.
and the sheep video
There was also a delicious little spring with ice-cold water that I indulged in before scrambling down to the road. My thanks to the off-duty ranger for picking me up and taking me down to IHC and Camille for leaving me that ice-cold water bottle!
What a great day of hiking, and videos. I bet you could hear that scream from the top of Ontario (the tree top that is) all the way back down FRC!