Vanishing in the wilderness

[Tumbleweed]

People should be packing guns when they're out in wild country for lots of reasons and this is one of them.

Kyle Burgess was on a run about 2 miles up Slate Canyon on Saturday evening and saw four small animals scampering around on the trail ahead, he didn’t realize what they were at first.Thinking they were bobcats (it wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen those), Burgess pulled out his phone and started recording.

Seconds later, when their mother came into view, it dawned on him that he was in big trouble.They were mountain lion cubs. And their mother was going to protect them at all costs.The instant the full-grown mountain lion mother charged him, Burgess’s adrenaline fired up. He let out a stream of profanities while he backed away.

The cougar dove into the trees along the side of the trail, as if to flank him.She reappeared on the trail. Her eyes locked on him, and she followed him as he retreated backward.What came next was the longest six minutes of Burgess’ life.