On a more frightening note . . . had my first ever bear encounter. I’ve seen plenty at a distance from inside a vehicle, but this was the first face to face. Mama black bear with a couple of cubs (worst possible situation). The cubs scurried up trees ( still can’t believe how fast they climbed) and mama approached me puffing air loudly from her nostrils ( back off/warning signal). I moved back down the trail without turning away from the bear or running (both big mistakes), and mama signalled the cubs to come down from hiding and then shepherded them into the woods while giving a couple more warning snorts. Then they were gone. And so was I.
Always wondered how I would react to a bear; I was scared but didn’t panic, and amazingly every dealing with bears “best practice” I’d ever learned automatically came to me.
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