Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2023 22:29:09 GMT
It was about 25 years ago. I was hiking up in the Hoodoos trail up in Yoho National Park. A big thunderstorm came out of nowhere. Up in the Rockie Mountains this happens. It can be like the Great Flood in the bible and in 20 minutes or so all is normal again. When you are 5 or 6,000 feet up and the mountain you are on is 10,000 feet, then fast torrents of water will come crashing down on you like powerful rivers, you have to take cover quickly.
There was a long row of Douglas Fir trees on either side of the trail. These were monster trees about 80-90 feet high. The bottom of the trees about 7 feet up where huge branches that were so long that they touched each other from either side. So the "roof" of this 150 foot section was all tree branches, the sides were big trees, and of course the bottom was ground. It was for all intents and purposes, a big 150 foot long tree tunnel.
That's where I decided to take cover until the thunderstorm passed. But so did a redtail hawk. It swooped under the tree roof and didn't know I was there. It had no place to go but straight at me! It came at me so fast that I only had 1 second to hit the ground. I made it but can you imagine a 4 or 5 pound hawk flying at full speed hitting me? At the very least I would have had a broken nose and if it's razor sharp talons would have hit me at that speed.....it would have been real bad...close call!
There was a long row of Douglas Fir trees on either side of the trail. These were monster trees about 80-90 feet high. The bottom of the trees about 7 feet up where huge branches that were so long that they touched each other from either side. So the "roof" of this 150 foot section was all tree branches, the sides were big trees, and of course the bottom was ground. It was for all intents and purposes, a big 150 foot long tree tunnel.
That's where I decided to take cover until the thunderstorm passed. But so did a redtail hawk. It swooped under the tree roof and didn't know I was there. It had no place to go but straight at me! It came at me so fast that I only had 1 second to hit the ground. I made it but can you imagine a 4 or 5 pound hawk flying at full speed hitting me? At the very least I would have had a broken nose and if it's razor sharp talons would have hit me at that speed.....it would have been real bad...close call!