Holy Smokes! There's a Mountain Lion!!!

As most of you know I hike in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park and try to hit 100 miles a month, 1,200 miles a year.
Whiting has mountain lions.
In 2004 a mountain biker was eaten by a mountain lion and another lady was seriously injured but her friends preneted her from being dragged into the brush.
Needless to say the "head on a swivel" awareness is always part of conscious thought.
So imagine my surprise and dismay when I saw this.

While hiking on Saturday 11/11/23, you can imaging the confusion I sensed when I saw the ranger slowly drive past me in this truck and I realized there was a mountain lion in the bed.
The first image in the gallery is about how close I was when the truck went past.
The second image is the truck as I caught up with it...the ranger had left to assist someone on the adjoining trail.

Click on the images below to see a larger version: