Last night, while I was laying in bed ready to fall asleep, I spent 30-45 minutes searching the Internet for information on mountain lions. There’s no better way to make yourself terrified of mountain lions than to conduct internet searches. After searching phrases such as: “Mountain lion attacks Oregon,” “mountain lion populations,” “what to do if you see a mountain lion,” and “number of mountain lion deaths,” I was exposing myself to terrifying/horrific stories of “surprise attacks from behind” which naturally made me feel anxious and concerned. What makes mountain lions scary? Their name (“Lion”, rather than Mountain cats, cougars, or something less intimidating), the method in which they kill (claw the neck/throat, hide in vegetation and conduct surprise attacks from behind, etc), their size, their speed, and their diet (large mammals.)
Interspersed with these extreme stories/event, were also rational facts: the odds of being attacked by a mountain lion are almost nothing (1/17th of the odds of being struck by lightning), mountain lions are intimidated/scared of humans and it’s not in their nature to attack humans, mountain lion encounters are exponentially less likely than bear encounters, and there have only been 16 verified mountain lion attacks in the past hundred years in the United States. Basically, what all this information amounts to is that it’s not worth worrying about mountain lions at all. Even though mountain lions are terrifying, when the viciousness/terror of an attack is multiplied by the extremely rare/negligible likelihood of an attack, the overall fear that I should rationally have is also negligible. Rationally, I should be be exponentially more worried of dying in a car accident or being struck by lightning than from a mountain lion attack.
In the extremely unlikely event that I encounter a mountain lion, I already know to expand/enlarge my appearance, shout/make loud noises while maintaining eye contact with the mountain lion, and slowly walk away from the mountain lion. I’ve already decided that my go-to song in the case of a mountain lion encounter is “ho hey” by the Lumineers. I figure that that the “ho”s and “hey”s should sound intimidating, and in the worst case, if it doesn’t work I’ll still enjoy singing the song.
This morning, I also realized that there are similarities between fears of mountain lions and social anxiety/self-consciousness. Both social anxiety/self-consciousness and fear of mountain lions are caused by irrational and exaggerated fears. Although both can be terrifying and lead to great discomfort, feelings of helplessness, and anxiety, neither of these fears needs to be terrifying. If the right questions are asked and your thoughts/fears are challenged, a reasonable person will find that there’s nothing worthwhile to worry about. Unnecessary anxiety is poison that needs to be challenged, exposed, and removed from your thinking.
Upon arriving in Oregon, I asked the visitor center at the airport if there are any interesting attractions or activities in Medford. When the volunteer working at the visitor booth mentioned that there wasn’t anything to do in town, I thought that he just didn’t know anything about Medford or was depressed. However, he was correct (or maybe I’m also depressed). The Trip Advisor page confirms that besides hikes and nature attractions outside the city, there is nothing notable to do inside the city.
Here are some observations/research from walking through Medford and online research:
- City is spread out over a large area (no walkability)
- Public transportation is pathetic (basically non-existent)
- High unemployment (>8%)
- Uses of land throughout the city don’t seem to be conductive to a high quality of life (used car lots, motels,tattoo shops, fast food, smoke shops, liquor stores, etc.)
- When Highway 5 was built, it diverted traffic from Downtown.
- No urban vitality (downtown area has minimal car traffic, no pedestrians, all businesses were closed at 7PM (and probably even earlier)
What could be done to revitalize growth in the city?
- Attract new companies to the city (Since there is already an infrastructure and decent natural surroundings, the addition of high quality jobs can start a domino effect)
- Create a beautiful/walkable downtown/urban area within walking distance of the river which will act as a ground zero for residential and mixed-use growth.
From the airport, I walked several miles on Biddle Road, passing through the area with all the motels, passing by the indoor regional mall, and eventually arriving at the City Center Motel in Downtown. A few minutes after leaving the airport, I noticed a sign for a BLM visitor center and decided to stop by and chat with the employees. I took photos of a couple of road maps which will help me in reaching the Grave Creek Boat Ramp from Merlin, and which will help me reach civilization after completing the hike at Foster Bar.
Across the street from the mall, I stopped at a Barnes and Noble/Starbucks location where I reserved a hotel for the upcoming night and continued planning tomorrow’s logistics. After walking another mile or two toward Downtown, I checked into City Center Motel and shortly thereafter I walked over to a Bricktowne Brewing Co (http://www.yelp.com/biz/bricktowne-brewing-company-medford) to watch game 6 of the finals between the Cavs and Warriors. Because the Cavs won and forced a game 7, game 7 will take place at 5PM on Sunday. This just provides further incentive to arrive in Gold Beach early on Sunday afternoon/evening in order to watch the game.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up at around 6:15AM, leave the room at 7:30AM, eat a quick breakfast at the hotel office, and board the 7:45AM bus from the bus station in Medford to Grants Pass, OR. In Grants Pass, I should probably load up on energy-dense foods for the backpacking trail. Form there, at around 12:30PM, I’ll take a bus from Grants Pass to Merlin, and continue walking/hitchhiking to Grave Creek Boat Ramp. As of now, my goal is to hike about 5 miles into the Rogue River Trail and camp near Big Slide. Even though I only walked about 5 miles today, I feel blisters forming at the edges of both of my pinky toes. I need to apply tape on my toes to stop the friction from causing blisters during the next 10 days.
