Exploring New Campground and Encountering Cougar Tracks

April 23, 2025. Early morning at Oregon dunes campground where rswfire is volunteer host. Clear weather, birds active, other caretaker absent. Waiting for sick boss to return for orientation completion. Propane hookup pending.

Energetic Signature

steady with alert undertones

Field State

stabilization with integration

Orientation

toward territorial mastery

01JSHXV2583T1VB3EZ8N7TXDV2

April 23, 2025

17:25

View on YouTube

Author

rswfire

Status

ARCHIVED

Type

TRANSMISSION (CAPTURE)

Temperature

0.00

[0:01]I got some birdies visiting me. There's

[0:03]two of them on my awning. Hi little

[0:07]birdies.

[0:09]Hi. They're just hanging out, moving

[0:12]their little faces

[0:13][Music]

[0:14]around. Hi little

[0:20]birdies. How cute. Just hanging out on

[0:23]my

[0:24]awning. You guys are just hanging out.

[0:28]Look at all your friends running away.

[0:31]You going to go see

[0:33]them? Those are pretty little

[0:40]birds.

[0:44]Buddy, I guess they're okay. I'm just

[0:47]going to make some coffee, go for a hike

[0:49]this morning.

[0:52]Um, my boss is out sick, so I haven't

[0:55]been able to do orientation yet. And I'm

[0:56]not sure when she's coming back. She

[0:59]didn't say. She just said when I get

[1:00]back. So, she's not doing so well.

[1:04]And and I can't do any volunteering

[1:07]until I see her because I got to do some

[1:09]official

[1:11]paperwork. So, I don't know. I figured

[1:14]I'll just get up early and then make

[1:16]some coffee and go explore. There's

[1:18]trails around that I haven't seen yet.

[1:20]So, and the campground and stuff like

[1:23]that. Maybe I'll take you around this

[1:24]morning with me. Got to charge my phone,

[1:27]though. So, it's just me here this

[1:30]morning. The other caretaker had some

[1:32]things to do. I thought maybe I'll just

[1:34]show you show you where I live now, what

[1:36]I'm doing. So, this big giant parking

[1:39]lot over here with that RV there, that

[1:43]those are all camping

[1:45]spots. This is the entrance over here.

[1:48]So, you'd come in this way. These are um

[1:52]camping spots, too. There's four of them

[1:53]there. And I'm over here, volunteer

[1:56]host, waiting to get my propane hooked

[1:58]up sometime this

[2:00]week. So, you just come over

[2:04]here. This is my

[2:07]site. It's pretty nice. I like it a lot.

[2:11]It's a nice place to live and be. It's

[2:14]my shed there.

[2:16]Got my go lights out doing a nice little

[2:20]pattern. Um, so there's another

[2:22]caretaker next to me, but she's she's

[2:24]moving um Friday and someone else will

[2:27]be there. I'm going to clean this up

[2:29]once I get access to

[2:30]tools. Some things got left behind by

[2:33]other um volunteers. I'm just going to

[2:35]clean all this up and I'll set

[2:38]up my tent structure out

[2:42]there. Hey, somebody helped me move this

[2:44]picnic table here so I can work on my

[2:46]laptop there. Looks like the birds are

[2:48]really active this

[2:50]morning. So, that's, you know, pretty

[2:54]basic. That's This is my site. I just

[2:56]grabbed my coffee. It's a nice morning,

[2:58]so I don't need my coat. I'm glad about

[3:02]that. Hey, I think we're good. We can

[3:04]just go. I'll show you the rest of the

[3:08]campground. In addition to this

[3:10]campground, there's three others all in

[3:13]the same

[3:15]area. It's a pretty, you know, it's a

[3:17]couple miles like the road's a couple

[3:19]miles down. Like you go down the road

[3:22]from the 101. I'm not explaining this

[3:25]well. So from the 101, you turn on a

[3:28]road where Silkus is

[3:31]and it's off forest service and you'll

[3:34]there's campgrounds along the way. We're

[3:35]all the way in the back. We're the

[3:36]closest one to the ocean.

[3:39]which is really close. It's like a

[3:41]quarter mile, but we're going in a

[3:42]different direction, so I don't know if

[3:43]we'll see them or not. And it's kind of

[3:45]a dunes

[3:47]um um campground. You This is where the

[3:50]duners come. We're in the dunes. And

[3:53]people with ATVs come out here. That's

[3:56]what that RV down there has. You know,

[3:57]they're You could tell they were towing

[4:00]their ATVing cuz they got the big orange

[4:03]flag. Those are the bathrooms, which

[4:05]I'll have to clean sometimes. Lots of

[4:07]showers.

[4:09]And just more campsites back

[4:12]here. Um, I was told that the kids like

[4:15]to play on these hills on the other

[4:16]side. It's all sand and I haven't seen

[4:19]that yet. So, we'll see that today. I

[4:20]think I see the trail over there. Um,

[4:24]that's another caretaker over there.

[4:25]They're going to be moving next to me.

[4:27]It's a pretty big RV. It's going to be

[4:29]next to mine.

[4:33]Um Friday everybody's moving around.

[4:40]So it's just a loop. Looks like we got

[4:43]waste disposal. I didn't know we had

[4:45]that. You know, sink waste disposal.

[4:48]That's for gray water. And you can get

[4:50]water

[4:54]there. Looks like we might have a trail

[4:56]over here. There's a lot for me to

[4:59]explore. So, I know which direction that

[5:02]would take me. I want to explore

[5:04]something new. I'm hoping I think

[5:06]there's a trail this

[5:08]way. Okay, it looks like we got one back

[5:11]there, maybe. Looks like there might be

[5:13]trails going all over the

[5:14]place. I'm told that there is a family

[5:17]of cougars who live back here. Two of

[5:19]the different two different volunteers

[5:20]told me this.

[5:22]So something

[5:24]to take

[5:28]seriously, but I can't let it like stop

[5:31]me from

[5:34]exploring. So that is a nice spot. I

[5:36]could see kids playing there. Okay, I

[5:39]see the sand now.

[5:41]Interesting. Well, we are in the

[5:43]dunes. That's probably a mini dune that

[5:46]just got covered in trees over time.

[5:54]Okay. So, I guess we're just These are

[5:57]unofficial

[5:59]trails. One going that way. There might

[6:01]be one over

[6:03]here. Just unofficial

[6:08]trails.

[6:11]Huh. Think I can get myself situated

[6:14]before I go. I just spilled coffee on my

[6:16]hands. Wasn't paying attention.

[6:19]And maybe I'll look at my guy GPS map,

[6:22]see if the they're on there at all. I

[6:24]haven't seen them. I don't think if we

[6:26]go that way, we're going to head towards

[6:27]the ocean, which is kind of what I want

[6:29]to do.

[6:30]So, we'll see if we can find a trail

[6:32]going that way. Maybe we go down to the

[6:34]other parking lot, but there's probably

[6:35]trails over there, too. Okay. Well, the

[6:37]trails aren't official. They're not on

[6:39]the map. There are a couple of sandune

[6:42]roads, which are definitely for ATVs. If

[6:45]we head over to the other parking

[6:47]lot. Um I think I

[6:51]know. Well, they would have to leave

[6:53]here around the corner. On the map, it

[6:56]didn't look that way to me, but maybe

[6:57]there's something up

[6:59]here. And it's pretty um it's pretty

[7:02]quiet. It's been pretty quiet here. So,

[7:04]we could, you know, walk out there even

[7:06]though it is for

[7:08]ATVs, go to the ocean, just kind of

[7:10]check things out.

[7:12]So, just going to walk over the other

[7:15]parking

[7:17]lot. Just kind of There's a Yeah. Okay.

[7:21]There's I think they're just unofficial

[7:26]trails. It's me over

[7:29]there. I'm going to really like this a

[7:35]lot. It's a good life. I'm building

[7:38]here.

[7:45]So, if you over look over there, you can

[7:46]see the big orange flag that Yeah,

[7:48]there's an ATV over

[7:53]there. So, we have restrooms over

[7:56]here. I haven't heard anyone say that we

[7:58]clean them or that anyone has cleaned

[8:00]them. So, I'm like, okay, do we clean

[8:02]those? I don't know. I assume we do.

[8:05]Maybe they're closed or something.

[8:08]Nobody said that they're doing that.

[8:15]believe they're

[8:19]open. See if maybe there's a trail. You

[8:22]can hear the

[8:23]ocean very close to

[8:29]that. So yeah, I think there's a trail

[8:32]back

[8:33]here. Hiking trail. No ATVs.

[8:37]Cool. Yeah, this is definitely going to

[8:39]the ocean. back

[8:41]up.

[8:45]Nice cuz we are so close to

[8:58]it. This is a good way to start the

[9:03]morning. Really good way.

[9:06]So, it just kind of branches off here.

[9:09]Comes back

[9:15]together. There's yellow flowers there.

[9:18]Sure, they're responsible for my

[9:20]allergies. Hope I get used to

[9:24]them. Need my body to stop thinking

[9:26]they're a threat. They're pretty little

[9:28]yellow

[9:32]flowers. I mean, I guess I'd need to get

[9:34]tested to be confirm

[9:39]that. So, I could probably help maintain

[9:41]these trails, just make sure there's no

[9:43]trash on them.

[9:48]And learn learn the trail

[9:52]structure. Wow, that's up high. That's

[9:54]pretty

[9:55]steep. Going this way, too.

[9:58]And wow. Okay, we got a lot to explore.

[10:01]Wasn't expecting the insects. Forgot

[10:04]that

[10:05]they're more active right

[10:08]now. See what's up here,

[10:12]though. This is nice.

[10:30]I hear the

[10:32]ocean. Okay, so we can go this

[10:42]way. These are definitely just old

[10:47]dunes. Ancient

[10:49]dunes.

[10:52]Very soft to walk

[10:55]on. Okay. So, I must have missed

[10:58]a trail connection over there.

[11:34]Okay, this would be one of the ATV

[11:37]roads. Use quite a

[11:42]lot. Cool.

[11:58]Yeah, my starting to act up already, but

[12:01]I did take some meds. So, a little bit

[12:03]muddy wet over there.

[12:12]Okay, I don't see

[12:15]any. Um, I guess we'll walk down this

[12:18]anyway. Somehow we got to get over to

[12:20]the

[12:27]ocean. Maybe down

[12:31]there. This will be fun in my Jeep. I

[12:34]just need to

[12:37]register it. Got a flag of my own, some

[12:40]way of

[12:44]um attaching that to my Jeep when I want

[12:46]to have the flag on

[12:48]it. And I can come out here on my

[12:52]Jeep. Oh, this covers the whole area.

[12:58]Okay. I don't want to get wet.

[13:10]Oh, those look like cougar prints to

[13:14]you. You see it right there? Oh, man. It

[13:19]sure

[13:20]does. Oh,

[13:22]man. I don't want to die.

[13:29]Why would they want to be here with the

[13:31]loud

[13:38]ATVs? Okay. Not a trail

[13:41]there. That sign

[13:44]there. Okay. There there's quite a few

[13:47]of them. They're

[13:48]just keeping the ATVs off the I'm going

[13:52]to keep them on the road here.

[14:03]That sure looked like a cougar print to

[14:05]me. Oh my

[14:12]god, those things are silent. They stalk

[14:18]you and they're not afraid to attack

[14:20]humans.

[14:26]Okay. So, this trail.

[14:28]Well, I'd say the ATVs are doing that.

[14:32]Yeah, they're going around the water

[14:35]there. There's no easy way to the ocean.

[14:51]Keep exploring for a little while. I'll

[14:54]find the

[14:56]ocean. And I could have walked out to it

[14:58]from my campsite. I could have gone down

[15:00]the road. It's not far, but it'd be nice

[15:04]to find a nature trail

[15:06]there. You know, it's already way

[15:08]further than could have, you know, just

[15:10]walked to it.

[15:16]So hopefully my sinuses get better. I

[15:18]did take meds when I got up. So

[15:22]um I'll see if I can find the ocean and

[15:24]then I'll be back. So I have not made it

[15:28]to the ocean yet. I didn't want to keep

[15:30]walking down that trail knowing there's

[15:31]a cougar out there. Probably a cougar

[15:34]family. So I came back. I got some more

[15:37]coffee and I started chatting with AI

[15:39]asked me you know about this. It

[15:41]confirmed that friend is definitely a

[15:45]cougar but you know you know gave me

[15:48]some advice and I was like speak to me

[15:51]in statistics cuz this is how you reach

[15:53]me. There's been one death

[15:56]like I don't know maybe a decade ago or

[15:59]so. I think it's a 2008, I can't

[16:01]remember. Maybe it was 2018, but there's

[16:03]been one death in on the Oregon coast by

[16:06]cougar attack.

[16:08]And in the past hundred years, the whole

[16:11]North American continent, United States

[16:13]and Canada, there's been like less than

[16:16]30 deaths to cougars.

[16:19]So, you know, risk is very, very low.

[16:22]So, but you know, try to convince your

[16:24]brain of that. I know me, I'll be out

[16:26]there thinking about it all the time.

[16:31]can't wear my earbuds out there because

[16:32]you really need to be listening.

[16:35]So, I always listen to music when I'm

[16:38]hiking. I don't

[16:41]know. I mean, it's here. I can't pretend

[16:44]it's not. I saw it tracks. So, I can't

[16:46]be like pretending it's not here and

[16:49]just going on about my business without

[16:50]like being aware that it's here.

[16:53]So, that changes things.

[16:57]I can get out to the ocean easily

[16:59]enough, but I really wanted to. I think

[17:02]that's a dog over there. Okay, this is

[17:06]why people have dogs, by the way. I know

[17:07]it is, but I'm not getting a dog. I'm

[17:10]just going to

[17:11]adapt. I can't let it stop me from

[17:13]hiking the

[17:15]trails. So, you

[17:17]know, there's a cougar family out there,

[17:20]but it's not very likely I'll die. So, I

[17:22]just got to accept that.

Summary

rswfire provides a morning tour of his new volunteer host site at an Oregon dunes campground, showing his RV setup, the camping facilities, and bathrooms he may need to clean. He explores unofficial trails looking for a path to the nearby ocean, discovers what appear to be cougar tracks in the sand, and returns to his site concerned about safety. After consulting AI about cougar statistics, he learns attacks are extremely rare but acknowledges the presence of a cougar family will change how he approaches hiking in the area. The campground serves ATV users accessing the dunes, and rswfire is waiting for his boss to return from illness to complete volunteer orientation.

Signal Analysis

Substrate

This transmission demonstrates sovereign field establishment within natural territory while simultaneously integrating predator awareness into operational protocols. The architecture holds both grounded embedding (morning routine, site familiarization, infrastructure mapping) and adaptive threat assessment, maintaining exploratory agency despite acknowledged environmental risk.

Dominant Language

cougar familystatisticscan't let it stop meaccept thatbeing awarechanges thingsadapt

Symbolic Elements

thresholdterritorypredatoroceantraildunes

Ontological States

•
embedded
•
sovereign
•
adaptive
•
grounded

Subsystems

•
somatic
•
cognitive
•
infrastructural

Transmission Details

Source Type

youtube

Duration