[pct-l] Wolves in the Sierra?

Sat May 23 15:27:20 CDT 2009

I had the great fortune of visiting a wolf preserve in New Mexico last 
weekend and learned some interesting information. Of the few wolves that 
were released in Yellowstone Park, there are now over 1500 wolves 
populating a vast majority of 5 states now, including Idaho, Montana, 
Wyoming, the Dakotas, etc.... That within a decade of their release. 
Amazing indeed! To say that they haven't made their way into the Sierras 
or Cascades would be guessing wrong I believe.

That would be like saying North Dakota is flat.. LOL.....

And for those listing National Scenic Trails...you forgot one......the 
North Country National Scenic Trail....the one that runs from North 
Dakota at Lake Sakakawea to New York. It's still not complete- there is 
alot of road walks yet, but it does exist. It's 4000 miles long, for 
those who need a new challenge. =)

And I got to meet up with a bunch of thru hikers last weekend as they 
made their way up the CDT!!! They spent a day or 2 in Grants, NM, where 
my husband works at the moment, and were staying in the same motel he 
was! What a great experience!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend here in the US and a great weekend 
otherwise for those outside the US.

SoulSista

Georgi Heitman wrote:
> It would be lovely to hear that howl again, and I like to think that if I
> trekked into the 1000 Lakes Wilderness, I might. That dun-colored critter
> was definitely headed that direction, Badger Mt. being to the south of us,
> and assuming it was doing the howling that closed the dogs and coyotes
> down.  But from mid June to October these days, or more specifically,
> nights, we have between two or three to as many as 30+ hiker-type folks
> sitting on our deck or around one of our fire circles, and the noise level
> doesn't make for hearing something as low and deep as that howl.  Nor do the
> coyotes or dogs suddenly go quiet.  In fact, as the various breeds of those
> neighbor's animals has changed, their yappy voices have only gotten higher
> pitched, a good wolf howl is just what's needed to enable our hikers,
> camping just across the creek from their pen, to get a good night's sleep.
>
> On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 5:52 AM, Josh <559josh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> Great & exciting story!  I just wish more of the dates U mentioned were
>> more
>> recent. :(  But if there were a few around 12yrs ago, there should be a
>> significant population by now. YAY!
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
>> On Behalf Of Georgi Heitman
>> Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 10:07 PM
>> To: christopher.kopp at gmail.com; pct-l at backcountry.net
>> Subject: [pct-l] Wolves in the Sierra?
>>
>> I don't know...
>> Wolves in the southern Cascades?  I think yes...at least there were in 1993
>> or 4, because FireWalker and I saw an article(very small, maybe two lines
>> total, down at the bottom of a page) in our weekly Inter Mt. News stating
>> that seven mated pair had be released on and/or around Badger Mt....think
>> Badger Flats at the northern edge of  Lassen Natl Pk. here, folks.
>> A year or two later a neighbor told us that he'd read that three more pair
>> had also been released in the same area.
>> Around that time, FireWalker and I saw a very large, dun-colored critter
>> grazing (or something) in the field next to the driveway coming into the
>> Hideaway (our home).
>> We stopped in the driveway, debated what it might be, it was too early in
>> the spring to be a returning deer, too big to be one of our local coyotes
>> or
>> a neighbors dog but with it's head down, it was impossible to tell, so I
>> opened my car door and slammed it hard.  Its head flew up... it was the
>> biggest canine either of us had ever seen, please note, I didn't say 'dog'.
>> It took off, didn't run like a coyote, with front legs that are/seem
>> shorter
>> than it's hind ones...it ran more dog-like, but it wasn't any of our
>> neighbors dogs.
>> Later, during the summer, as I was coming home after dark on a bright
>> moon-lit night, as I started to slow down  to enter our driveway, I glanced
>> in my rear-view mirror in time to see a very large canine, very light
>> colored in the  moon light, run across the road behind me.  I got
>> goose-bumps, and it takes a lot for that to happen to me,  but I think I
>> knew what I saw was out of the ordinary.
>> A neighbor saw a similar colored creature run in front of his pickup as he
>> drove home after dark a few nights later.
>> He said it was NO dog!!  That was prior to 1997, because I was coming home
>> from work at the little store by the Old Station P.O. and 1997 was the last
>> year I worked there.
>>
>> FireWalker and I got our hot tub in 1996 or so.  Almost immediately after
>> that, as we'd sit in it at night, F.W. began asking me if I could hear the
>> very low howl that something was making.  I'm hard of hearing and didn't
>> get
>> hearing aids til '98, so at that point, I had to say 'no'.  But what I did
>> hear after he'd ask me that question was total silence.
>> Very unusual, because coyotes were usually singing and we had a neighbor
>> with many loud dogs that barked in tune with the coyotes.  Once I got my
>> hearing aids I could hear what F.W. was talking about, a very deep howl,
>> off
>> toward the 1000 Lake Wilderness to our north.  From the moment that howl
>> was
>> heard, every coyote and every dog shut up, crawled back into it's den, dog
>> house, whatever, and was not heard from again that night.  Since the dogs
>> were close enough that even w/o hearing aids, they could keep me awake at
>> night, I wished whatever critter was responsible for shutting them up would
>> make itself known more often than just once or twice a week.  We'd have
>> gotten a lot more sleep.  It was as if our local coyotes and dogs knew that
>> whatever made that sound was bigger than they were, and maybe deadly.
>> Unfortunately, we haven't heard that howl in years....tho in 2007, a hiker
>> well-known on the trail said that while hiking thru Lassen N.P. the hiker
>> looked up a side trail and saw a huge canine, black, if I recall and sort
>> of
>> scruffy looking, but definitely huge and definitely not a dog!
>> There was no doubt in that hiker's mind...that critter was a wolf.
>> They stared at each other and went their separate ways.
>>  Wolves in the southern Cascades?  I think so!
>> FireFly
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>>     
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