Was out tracking on the river bar yesterday afternoon. I had to hack through blackberry brambles to get to the river because they've begun growing again. I should have cut them back from the trail in the winter when it was easier. I flailed away with the machete and made a rough path. Still managed to get my legs cut with thorns though. :( When I got to the river, I took a minute to breathe. Then I started hiking south. I was thinking, "I am going to find a mountain lion track." I must have seen it but it only registered subconsciously because I DID find it! I found an old trail that had been rained on. It last rained about two weeks ago, so the trail was pretty much gone. I managed to find about a dozen tracks altogether. The rest had been washed away. Piecing together the trail, I found that the cougar had walked south and then had walked up a small sandy dune. It had then found that there was no place to jump to on the other side. It was a wall of brambles. So the animal jumped down onto the river bar again and turned around and headed north. The rest of the trail had been obliterated by the rain. It was such a neat experience to have that thought and then, less than 20 seconds later, have it actually happen! I guess tracking becomes second nature after a while.