Pick Wire Canyon-Playing

The day after the big hike down to the dinosaur tracks I got up and starting getting my day going.  I usually use a cut off shirt sleeve to keep my hair out of my eyes.  This is what I was stylin' after I removed the sleeve. My secret 'product'?  Sweat and dust from a day of hiking.

  On this day, I would spend the day exploring the area locally.  Taking it a little easier and seeing if I could spot traces of bobcat in the area.  My pets tagged along.  Miss Priss, my cat, had been unusually interested in leaving the bus.  She flitted her tale around like a bull whip and would dart off every time I opened the bus door.  Knowing that it was bobcat area and that she was bite-size for a bobcat, I didn't feel comfortable with her roaming around alone.  I also took a keen interest in her behavior in these surroundings to see if she would demonstrate some feline action that would help me understand bobcat behavior better.
She did.  It was a windy day.  The first thing I noticed is she didn't like the wind.  She flattened her ears as if the wind was uncomfortable.  She then searched out the nearest barrier from the wind, under a tree or behind a rock.  The other thing I noticed is how 'in her element' she seemed to be.  The rock formations were like a playground for cats.  Allowing her to jump and climb and hide.  Even though the wind troubled her she didn't scurry back to the safety of the bus like she normally would.

 

Finding some escape from blowing wind.  (As a reference, the bobcat was a hair smaller than Nala and about 4 times as big as Priss, who tips the scales at maybe 7lbs)

Winding blowing tufts on her tail, ears pinned back, nothing can stop wonder-cat from gravity defying jumps

Ever since I saw the bobcat the day before, I have been plagued with a thirst for knowledge to learn more and potentially create a chance encounter again.  Little do I know that I am going to find more clues to the puzzle that only serve to fuel the fire of this desire.
I go back to trailhead.  Instead of going to Picket Wire Canyon, I take the trail to Withers canyon.  I go a couple hundred yards and find an informational sign.  The kind that says what kind of animals are in the area.  It has the usual suspects... Then the first sentence of the next paragraph catches my attention...

This is the first time that bobcat is mentioned in anything about the area I am visiting.  (Somehow I missed the reference to miss it in the preceding paragraph, along with the much more dangerous mountain lion).  I have been out west before and they have policies when you are in dangerous country, like prominent signs and informational literature.  In Rocky Mountain National Park, they have roadside signs that tell you to beware of mountain lions, what to do if you see a mountain lion (Don't run!, Make yourself look bigger-raise your hands over your head, if attacked fight back-don't play dead).  At least here, they say consider yourself lucky if you see a  bobcat.
I want to say I have been lucky and I want lightening to strike twice!
So I continue going down the trail.  I then see the charms of this little trail.  It leads to the unobstructed views to the entire canyon below.  I can sit in one place and cover several square miles of flat, low grass land.
This is half the view.

I scout out a little more and then I go back to recharge my camera battery and get ready to go back as the sun is setting when more animals are likely to be out looking for food.
I return with charged batteries and a small pair of binoculars.   I get into position.

 I did not see hide nor hair of any wildlife...none.  But I was treated to the best sunset/moonrise ever.

Since the wildlife viewing was a bust I returned back to camp and made a campfire.  Full moon, faithful dog and campfire...it was a good night.