National Park Diary: Let's Do Alamo Creek Again!

Since I had never seen the old settlement of La Coyota I decided to hike that area south on Alamo Creek, then up North on Alamo Creek again. La Coyota area had quite a few residents and I found out from Bonnie Winslow that it had previously been interpreted and even had a parking lot for visitors years ago. It is now going back to nature, but it was fun to see.

After that I followed the creek down to the river, enjoying the cattle on the Mexican side and flowers, but not so much the Russian Thistle which has taken over the terrain. Each plant has a jillion little stickers that stick into . . . everything!

I also had a big wake-up call as I hiked today. I was sticking close to the edge of the hills looking for a cave that might be there, going through a very grassy area - lots of old grass, dead plant stalks, and a maze of javelina trails and old scat. I was making a lot of noise as I trudged along but, much to my horror, I flushed a group of 10 or so javelina bedded down. I was startled and so were they as the herd jumped up from the brush about 40 feet from me. All but 2 of them thundered away, but the two remaining ones were humongous, bristled up and heading towards me closing the gap to 20 feet. One went right while the other went left as if they were going to come at me from both flanks.

I was scared and started yelling, "No, javelina!!" and waving my trekking pole around. They were not intimidated as I tried to make myself appear to be the larger, more fierce predator. (That may work on bears and mountain lion, but not these guys!) So I quickly modified my posture & stopped yelling, turning and retreating as quickly as I could without panicking - listening all the time to make sure they would not charge me. When I glanced back after I felt I was at a safe distance they were still watching me so I gave up and went home. Smart huh?

I was amazed at how relatively calm I felt during the episode. I was hoping that my trekking pole would not collapse if I had to use it in defense, wondering how bad the wounds would be from their fearsome teeth and would they stop their attack long enough for me to get at my radio (safely tucked into a pocket on my backpack of course!) so I could call for help if needed.

Fortunately it appeared they just wanted me to depart but I was surprised they tenaciously stood guard while I retreated. We always tell visitors to be wary of the wild critters whose space we invade, but now, coupled with the dog attack I witnessed in the campground, I can once again speak from personal experience.