Cougar on the Mountain

Earlier this season I saw a facebook post about AZ Wonders, so I clicked and looked and marked my calendar. Last week (first day of spring) was the date to watch for the AZ Wonder.

"A few days each year, for just a few minutes, a shadow on the Superstition Mountain east of Mesa depicts what appears to be a cougar chasing its prey. Timing is critical. The cougar only appears during the third week of March and September each year in the late afternoon hours. Locals say one hour before sundown is prime time."

So on March 20th I grabbed the camera and drove west a couple of miles looking for the prime spot to see the cougar shadow. I took pictures of what I thought would be the cougar shadow. I did not find a prime spot and was convinced it must have been a drone photo. And to cap the failure, when I got back and downloaded my photos...I had no photos. DANG! I have no idea what happened and why they were not on the disc. The next few afternoons were cloudy so I did not think the cougar would appear. In the meantime other photography enthusiasts went looking for the cougar shadow. My CV photography mentor posted a photo he took with his phone and shared his parking location and time.

I decided to try again. I grabbed the camera and shortly after 6:00 PM headed for Mountain View Road. I found the spot and parked the car and watched the shadow appear on the mountain.

But first I got distracted by the moon.

And the sight of Superstition Mountain as we don't often see it from the Flatiron front all the way to the end.

And then I saw this crazy shadow. Could it be??? Oh my gosh! I think that's it! I saw it accidentally as I was focusing on the Flatiron Peak and the front of the mountain.

More of the front of Superstition Mountain and the what might be the cougar shadow.

And all that time, 20 minutes, I was focusing on what I thought would be the cougar shadow. I see the head of the cougar...don't you?

And there it was at 6:44 PM the shadow of the cougar chasing its prey on Superstition Mountain.

As I was researching for this post, I found the original web post that inspired me on the hunt for the cougar shadow. DUH! It includes the exact location for photographing the AZ Wonder. I might try it again tomorrow night!