Back in October we serviced all the trail cams down on Bluff Creek. We had an awesome trip with some folks staying out there for over a week. This year we have seen a ten fold increase in traffic to the film site. Out trail cameras were recording many people visiting the site including many groups of folks on the weekends. Our figures place visitation at around 300 visits from maybe 200 individuals. During a few of our trips were discovered that we were often visited by hikers while working down at the film site, this was a first for us. In the past we had less than 20 visitors a year. I do have data from the last few years and I think it might be worthwhile to investigate the visitation issue further.
We love that people are now able to trip out to the Six Rivers and visit this historical and cultural site. That being said the are is wild and untamed. The creek is a critical habitat for endangered species like the Humboldt marten. With more people come an increased likely hood of chance encounters with wild animals. The video I am posting is evidence of one of those chance encounters.
We have seen many lions on camera down at the film site but this was the closest call we have seen. We have always maintained that the site is safe but we would like to recommend that people hike with bear bells at a minimum to warn any wildlife that you might be coming. We also recommend against carrying a firearm while hiking to the film site as the chance of shooting yourself in the foot or is far greater than the chance of you needing it.
