[pct-l] Near death by squirrel

[jeffmoorehead1 at cox.net (Jeff Moorehead)]

OK Greg, I'll bite...funny but close to tragic.

 My girlfriend and I stopped along Bubb's Creek on the first day of our Rae 
Lakes looper. I placed my pack under a huge sugar pine and rested against it 
while eating lunch and wondering why I pack so heavy. As I was eating, small 
thin flakes of pine were gently floating down from above-- not unlike the 
start of a light snowstorm. I didn't question the source-- just one of those 
'mountain things'. After a good rest, I rose to place lunch items back into 
my pack and froze at the unmistakable sound of a fast-moving, whirling 
projectile from above seeking its target. A raw pine cone (sugar pine=huge!) 
firmly planted itself vertically into my open pack and penetrated about a 
foot into it. This bunker-busting misslile was sent down by a chattering, 
smart-ass squirrel who was claiming triumph from about 75 feet above me--  
jumping between branches and peering inquisitively down. Wow! I would have 
been instantly killed if I had my head in my pack at the moment this 
rebellious rodent launched his shock-and-awe campaign. I shiver at the 
thought of what would have eventually been the headlines in some 'weird 
happenings' section of local newspapers everywhere-- 'Backpacking nature 
afficianado killed instantly by squirrel'. After everything I've been 
through in the backcountry and I go out this way???