[at-l] My weekend bear story

[S2ndChnce@aol.com]

530 miles on the AT (Springer to Atkins, VA) and i never saw a bear. Never. 
Wanted to. Didn't.

Out here in AZ, i've learned to sleep under the stars....what with few bugs 
and less rain, a tent is seldom needed....especially this time of year.

We were car camping....25 miles on dirt road to the campsite type place on 
Apache land...at the Black River. It's about 4000 ft. elevation. We'd heard 
that during our first night there was a bear that walked through the next 
campsite shredding a couple of fishing vests that had trailmix left in them.

On Sunday a bear appeared on the other side of the river where we were 
camped. We all scurried down to water's edge and took his/her picture. A 
handsome bear s/he was. Just looked at us and ambled along the river taking a 
sip now and then, looking for fish.

But that's not the bear story.

The girls were sleeping about 40 feet away on the other side of our campsite. 
About 3 a.m. under a Milky Way canopy and a new moon, Mike (the husband) and 
i both heard noises. Subtle shiftings of our bodies told each other we were 
awake. Then he whispered, "Turn around. There's a bear."

Well, i raised my head and looked behind me. There was another (the same?) 
full grown bear behind us just ambling by....about 6-8 feet from our heads. 
S/he seemed to be making the rounds for food from campsite to campsite. A few 
minutes later there was noise at the next campsites and then those people 
turned on their flashlight. Five minutes later, the dog at the next campsite 
started barking.

I suppose i should have been frightened what with that poor gal from TN (i 
still think her ex did it, too). Instead, seeing the bear up close and 
personal was just the highlight of the weekend.

Second Chance
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