Bear Magic, Without the Proof

I realized a couple of years ago that I am a bear magnet. I run into them in the wild. Some people think that’s really scary, but I think it’s cool. I defend the bear’s reputation. The bear is painted as a blood-thirsty man-killer, but I think that they are the “good guys” and won’t attack you unless first provoked or extremely hungry. Besides, they prefer to eat berries anyway! I know there is potential danger with them as well as with any wild animals, but I don’t ever approach them. I give them space. I respect them and therefore, I’m not the least bit afraid of them. I love bears.

My first bear sighting (other than the zoo) was about 10 years or so ago. It was from my car near Helen, Ga. and the bear was walking along the roadside. I don’t think that I can really count that as a true bear encounter, but it was still very cool.

My first true encounter occurred in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. A mother bear and her three cubs crossed the hiking trail just ahead of me. It was surprising because this was one of the more popular trails and there were several hikers on the trail. I just didn’t expect this large, black bear to dart across the trail in this peopled area with three furry cubs trailing quickly behind her. Bears, especially Black Bears, are shy and try to avoid people. But there she was with her family, only feet away from me.

A couple of people on the trail that saw her freaked out and ran off frantically. I was frantically digging around in my pack for my camera and zoom lens. By the time I was ready, the bear family was out of good-shot range. It was one of those cases that you can see with your eyes, but not really with the camera. They had crossed the stream alongside the trail and made their way into this clearing in the woods where there were taller grasses. Mama Bear was pawing away at the ground, foraging for food while the cubs scrambled across a downed log and playfully chased one another. The bears hardly paid me any attention. Mama looked my way occasionally and then right back to her grazing and foraging. It was amazing to watch. I was so into watching them that I hadn’t even noticed the 3 other people who had now joined the viewing. It was a great show even if all I have to show of that experience is a few pictures of trees and grass with an out-of-focus, vaguely bear-shaped figure (hard to tell for sure since trees are partially obscuring it) in the pictures.

My second encounter took place in Wyoming at Grand Teton National Park.
Best Friend and I hiked around Jenny Lake to Hidden Cascade and up to Inspiration Point and back. Then we hiked around the moose ponds through wildflower meadows and along the range until we reached car again.

Jenny Lake is a gorgeous glacial lake of most vibrant blue-green yet holding water so clear that I could see the stones on its floor. Everything reflected in this giant mirror…trees, clouds, the mountains. The first of our hike took us along the shoreline of this amazing lake. We started out early, just after daybreak, in hopes of viewing wildlife and having a deserted trail. Both our wishes were met as just the two of us walked along the trail in silence listening to the earth wake up around us. We had rounded a corner when something donned in light brown fur stirred precariously close to us in the wood by the lake and began to scurry away. Then it was silent… Golden brown fur, rounded ears, hump on its neck…We just had a run-in with a young Grizzly! I’ll never forget how Best Friend stepped behind me, her hand on my shoulder as if telling Mr. Bear, “Eat her, not me!” I couldn’t help but laugh. (Later, she rationalized her actions by saying it was because she had never seen a bear in the wild before and she knew that I had.) That bear was quick! We stood around for a few moments before moving forward, hoping to see him again. No luck. Disappointed, I put my camera back into my pack. I was not happy about another lost bear shot. On the other hand, Best Friend was ecstatic with her first bear encounter and told everyone she met on the trail later that day that she saw a bear. She told me she hoped we saw another one.

So about two weeks later, while day-tripping and hiking through Yellowstone, we found ourselves camping right back in the same place at Grand Teton and planning to hike the same trail early in the morning. I tell Best Friend that I think we’re going to see one. She says that she thinks so, too. Encounter Number Three happened in almost the exact same place we had the Grizzly encounter.

We had just blindly rounded a bend in the trail and came literally face-to-face with a Black Bear with two cubs sitting right in the middle of the trail. The bear startled us and we startled her. The babies ran off in the woods toward the lake and climbed a tree. We were only 15 or 20 feet away from her. In fact, we came too close to the bear. She growled at us and looked mighty agitated. She looked across the trail toward higher grounds and then back toward the direction her cubs ran off. We backed away from her slowly. I am fidgeting around again for my camera. As the bear growled, Best Friend shook her head and said, “No!” Despite our dangerous proximity to the bear, I laugh at Best Friend's attempt to talk to the bear. The bear decides to run off toward her cubs. Then I began to yell, “No!” And then, “No! Come back!...Please?” Dammit! No picture again!

I returned to Georgia after weeks of fun and adventure with tons of photos of waterfalls, desert landscapes, tall mountains, and all kinds of animals…minus bears. It took me a while to readjust to my less-open, highly vegetated, extremely tree-ish environment here and when I did, I realized that I had missed my Blue Ridge Mountains terribly. I filled my hydration pack full of cold water and placed it in my backpack and drove up to my mountains. Oh how green they were! And so full of streams! I had to stop and hike at one of my favorite trails near Helen. It’s only 5 miles long and fairly easy. But it travels along Dodd Creek and Dukes Creek the entire time, passing by numerous cool waterfalls and rapids. I had not been hiking for very long when something caught my attention off the trail to my right. I recognized that black furry shape in an instant. I was so excited. Encounter Number Four was happening! I reached into my pack searching for the camera that I had forgotten to put in it. Noooooooo! Then she slipped away into the forest ferns and hemlocks.

I called Best Friend after I left the trail.

“You see more bears than anyone I know!” she said.

“Yeah, but you’d never know it by the photos would you?” I sarcastically retorted.

“No, but at least you get to see them! I had never seen one until you were with me and we saw them twice! You’re a bear magnet!”

With restored hope, I replied, “Yeah. I think bears must like me. I think I have Bear Magic.”

One of my other friends claims to have Target Magic because every time she goes shopping at Target she gets front row parking. Every time. I have seen this. So if she can have Target Magic, then I can have Bear Magic! (Even if I have no photographic proof!)

But I’m bound to see another bear. And the next time the magic kicks in, I’ll have a camera in hand!