Where was I?

I am in the desert for the winter, without my journals, and I'm wracking my brain trying to remember where I was in a particular situation, in answer to someone's post about safety on El Norte.

Last year, I walked stages of the VDLP (it wasn't there), the Frances, the Aragones, and the Norte.

SOMEWHERE along one of those ... I was frightened by huge cougar tracks. I will describe this place as best I can and maybe someone will recognize it. I thought I had posted this when I returned, but can't find the post.

Ok.. so I remember that when I began the day, the track was on pavement and I was supposed to go straight at this crossroads, but I was hungry for breakfast and there was a small town to the LEFT. I veered off about 1/2 mile and ate, then on my way back to the track, I stopped at a doctor's office or clinic to ask directions because the map showed two ways of walking; you could either go OVER the mountain or around it. After speaking to a nurse in the office, I decided to go OVER the mountain.

I walk back to the crossroads and turn left, go through a sparse neighborhood, and then the track goes RIGHT and begins climbing a small mountain. I want to say it's eucalyptus, but could have been pine or even both. I can't recall. I just know it's suddenly very forested, and the track is muddy. It climbs up up up - the trail is a little rough - red clay mud - through trees -

At the top, there is tree harvesting going on. There are stacks of logs on the side of the trail, and some heavy equipment.

It is here that the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I feel I'm being watched.
I look around, then down to the ground to see some VERY large cougar tracks.
I know they are cougar b/c I've seen a lot of them on my own forest property.

As I come DOWN the small mountain, I walk into the most ethereal looking valley I think I've ever seen! There is a beautiful small farm on the right, it is all very green, pastures.. just gorgeous.

That's all I can remember.
I walked this sometime between September and November.
Does this sound remotely familiar to anyone?
It's driving me nuts! :lol:

Well, I guess by "cougar" I meant a wild cat of some kind, as a generic term. Sorry I wasn't more specific. We often use "panther" the same way in the south.

If there are no "cougars" in Spain, maybe a lion or tiger was loose from the zoo or circus , because this was a HUGE cat paw... larger than the palm of my hand; not a domestic cat at all, and much larger than I would think a lynx would be. Or maybe someone up there has one as a pet.

It was fresh, and was in damp, but not soft mud.

Whatever it was, it scared the snot out of me! :lol: