Day 54 (7-24-12 - Close Encounters of the Bear Kind)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JR !!!!!!!!!!!!!

We actually saw more of the landscape this morning than we  had seen since we got here.  We decided to stay around the campground and charge up the camper battery with the generator.  We had hopes that the weather would clear up later today.

Lauren found out that there was a bear sighting in the campground.  The bear was eating fish at one of the fishing areas.  He took off with the camera to find the bear.  I refused to go.  He came back to camp after he couldn't find the bear. 

We heard that killer whales come up to this area to eat salmon.  We stood at the camper and watched for whales. All we saw were seals eating fish.

I was finally tired of staying around the camp.  I told Lauren that I was going to walk back and forth a short distance on the road in front of the camper to get in some exercise.  The road was wide open, there were a lot of people around, and I thought the bear was gone. 

Lauren didn't want to leave with the generator running so he stood out in front of the camper and watched me walk.  As I was walking, I wondered where the bear lived and what path he took to get to the fishing hole.  I also hoped that he was full of fish.

After my first loop, I felt pretty confident that the bear was no where around.  I walked back where Lauren was standing.  Lauren told me to look.  I looked around expecting a whale in the water.  It was not a whale it was a Bear.  The bear was just a few feet away.  I heard Lauren say, "be still," as I jumped behind him, grabbed his shirt, and croutched behind him.   I went into panic mode, I had just made eye contact with a bear and my bear spray was in the camper.

I was so relieved to hear Lauren tell me to walk slowly to the camper.  He stood there as I walked slowly to the camper.

Lauren said that I did not walk slowly to the camper, that I was in high gear. He said I looked like Ferny Kat when she gets scared and croutches down and runs in the camper.   On the other hand, I felt like it was an eternity before I made the few steps to the camper.  I can't imagine meeting up with a bear this close in the woods.

I was not suppose to make eye contact with the bear, I was supposed to be still, I was supposed to slowly back away, and I was supposed to have my bear spray easily accessible. I had just flunked Bears 101.

I got to the camper and made a bee line to grab my bear spray.  I watched from the slightly opened camper door with my heart racing and my knees knocking.  I reread the step by step directions on the can of how to use the bear spray.  Lauren finally came back to the camper and I asked where the bear went.

Lauren said that the bear had the same look of fright in his eyes as he saw in mine.  He said that when we started backing  away from the bear, the bear started backing away from us.  The bear must have made an A+ in Humans 101.   I am glad the bear is a better scholar than me.

And by the way, Lauren didn't have enough time to turn on the camera and get a picture of the bear.

The fog and rain finally lifted today.  We still saw clouds but we saw a lot more land than we have seen in the last couple of days.  We decided to wait until in the morning to leave in the hopes that the forecast is  correct for a sunny day tomorrow.  We plan to move to Thompson Pass tomorrow.  We will not have cell phone or Mifi coverage there, so it will be a few days before we post again.

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/achkKdhtekB8cFfbA