Surprise trekking on a game trail

Today started out like many of my previous mornings, conditioning myself on hiking a few of those wildernesses trails above Oakhurst.

In November, snowfall was limited to our higher elevations. We did have an abundance of rain which, in turn, left muddy conditions on local trails.

Thornberry Mountain was no exception; but at least I had a choice of forest roads, man made trails and game trails. This morning’s temperature is around 39 degrees with the possibility of rain for the morning hike.

Leaves and pine needles have fallen from most of the local trees, but the live oaks still retained most of their leaves throughout the seasons. At each trail’s crest I’m greeted with a chilly breeze followed by the crackling of leaves with each footstep. This is a gentle reminder that winter is still on the horizon.

Once off the forest road, my adventure starts through the thick underbrush at the base of Thornberry Mountain. This trail winds its way upward through the canyons and occasionally crosses an old abandoned logging road.

Generally at these remote locations the presence of local game reveals themselves. Today only fresh deer tracks are on display.

Looking closely at the hillside a mining shaft almost concealed from the trail is still displaying its wooden ladder dropping down into the abandoned and dark shaft. After 20 minutes, I arrived at the 4×4 road that travels for almost two miles across the highest points on the mountain.

Looking to the north below are the towns of Oakhurst and Ahwahnee. In the opposite direction a few miles away is the town of Coarsegold, mostly hidden by the mountain foothills and high ridges in the area.

Also on display looking north are the distant views of Fresno Dome.

Follow this ridge line to the west and along its ridge a canyon opens up to the north revealing Highway 41 leading to Yosemite. Also to the west is Deadwood Mountain at 4,540 feet.

From hiking this location over the last few years, I’ve discovered a few local game trails that offer a variety of scenery changes. Sometimes when following these difficult pathways an unusual situation can occur.

First is the introduction to animal tracks following in my direction of travel. Normally deer, coyote and raccoon tracks reveal themselves but this morning adding to this mixture are the fresh tracks of a top predator of the food chain: a black bear.

The reason I chose this particular game trail that during my hiking climb I noticed two huge sugar pine trees only a short distance from this logging road. During the past few months I’ve been on a personal quest to locate any sugar pine cone measuring over 20 inches in length.

Hopefully, these tall sentinels will bring about my reward. I hiked only 50 feet following through the thick brush when I heard snapping sounds of small twigs and the rustling of dry leaves.

I froze and listened for the sound again. Just ahead of me in this small canyon was a huge, light brown colored bear. He hadn’t spotted me, so I must be downwind from his location.

Quietly, I slipped behind a large pine tree and waited for his next response. Seemed like forever as he slowly maneuvered around the canyon.

Upon reaching the far end of this canyon he stood up on his hind legs and sniffed the air and slowly turned and looked in my direction. Then he lowered himself to all fours, hesitated for a moment and continued walking in the opposite direction before disappearing into the dense brush.

At this point in time I forgot about those sugar pine cones and very cautiously retreated from the area to the logging road. I immediately started trekking down off the mountain but looking over my shoulder for any sign of that bear.

Luck was with me again today but it was rewarding to watch one of our wilderness animals in their natural habitat. His color was mostly light brown with dark brown shading. For his size, I was impressed how graceful his movements were maneuvering his 300-plus pound frame.

This was my second bear sighting within two years in the general area. The first was also during early morning hours in the mountains directly above the Mudge Ranch area.

That bear was black, almost the same size and he also ignored me. Once again it may have been the distance between us or I was downwind from his location.

In all adventures, one has to have a little luck and today I have had my share.

Tony Krizan describes himself as an “adventurer” and he explores the Sierra Nevada range on a regular basis. He can be reached at tonykrizan@hotmail.com.