From my Adventure journal

26 June 2006 - 3:45am

I was up around Boulder, CO exploring the mountains in the Toyota. My gas guage dosen't work and I should have topped it off before leaving Denver. Here I am, driving through some place called Coal Creek Canyon at after midnight, on my way to Boulder to find a hotel for the night and I run out of gas. Since it was late, I got out a light blanket I happened to have and prepared to sleep in the bed of the Yota until morning. It gets cold up in the mountains at night. Shivering in the back ont the truck, I finally doze off... Suddenly I wake up, senses on full alert. Was it the cold that had awakened me? Sitting up I look around... The darkness of the canyon contrasts sharply with the bright shining stars above. From off in the darkness comes a sound that I had never heard before. Even so, I knew immediately what it was. A coarse scream echoed through the night. Again and again. Closer and closer, circling around from behind me. Reaching down I unholster my 1911 and flip off the safety. Holding my surefire flashlight in my left hand and my .45 in the other I hear the mountain lion scream again, this time to my front... Swinging quickly I switch on my flashlight. Looking over my front sight post I see it. Two mountain lions crouched a little ways up the side of the canyon not more than 30 yards from my location. Adrenaline pumped through my body... The mountain lions crouch, eyes glowing gold in the light... Seemingly unafraid... In two jumps they could be upon me. I wait, for what seems like forever, periodically checking the darkness around me... No longer feling the cold of the mountain air... Then they are gone, disappearing into the darkness. Moving into the cab of my truck, I wait for daylight to come. Finally light enough outside to see, I walk to find some gas... Making a mental note that as soon as I again reach civilization I will fill a fuel can and keep it in the Yota just in case.