Date: 2013-01-08
To: Bears
Miles today: 0.0

While section hiking portions of the Appalachian Trail, I have had the good fortune to encounter bears on three occasions. And I do say ¢good fortune,¢ since most AT hikers pride themselves on how many bears they see over the course of a hike. My first bear sighting occurred on the section between Neel¢s Gap and Low Gap Shelter in the fall of 2006. I should, however, offer a disclaimer of sorts for this ¢first¢ bear, because all I really saw was his backside as he galloped down one slope and up another about twenty yards ahead of me. There was no time for a camera to snap a picture of another first on the Appalachian Trail. In fact, for a few seconds I stood in disbelief that I had been that close to a wild animal. Even though there had been warnings of bear activity in the area, as I set out from Neel¢s Gap earlier that morning I hadn¢t actually thought that I would see one.My second rendezvous with bears was near the Elkwallow picnic area in the Shenandoah National Park. It was early morning and I had just begun a hike headed south. Only a few yards from the road crossing I saw two cubs just off the trail to my right about fifty yards in the distance. Knowing that if cubs were in sight, that mama was also in the vicinity, I stopped in my tracks, waiting until she was also visible. Sure enough, within a minute there she stood, not a really large bear, but one who obviously had one eye on her youngsters and the other on me. Fortunately for me, they began to wander away from the trail rather than toward it. After just standing and staring at the three for several minutes I gingerly made my way on down the trail. This time it was I who had one eye on mama bear and the other on the trail as I put the bear family in the distance.This time I did manage to take some pictures. The adult bear¢s photo is discernible, although fuzzy, but alas, the cubs blended in too well with the blackness of the fallen trees to appear. Still I had my first bear photograph from the Appalachian Trail.My third and final bear sighting, at least up until the recent day hike near Unicoi Gap, occurred on a section hike of Pennsylvania in 2008. Like the other two times, I was hiking alone when the bear appeared about thirty yards in front of me, standing directly in the middle of the trail. This somewhat greyish colored bear was larger than the other two adults and seemed older as well. He stared curiously at me as I tried to unobtrusively reach for my camera from the top pocket of my pack. Camera in hand, I had the bear in my lens when I decided to zoom in for a better shot. Mistake! Apparently the movement or the sound of the zooming mechanism of the camera startled the old fellow because he immediately disappeared into the trees. This time I actually ran up the trail to where he had entered, hoping he had stopped just off the trail. When I arrived there, however, he was nowhere to be seen.When I begin my attempt at a 2013 thru hike, I will again be on the lookout for bears. No one wants the misfortune of having one make off with his food bag, but I think most hikers relish the thought of at least seeing a bear during the trek. And who knows; maybe this time I¢ll be fortunate enough to get a really good photo opt. That would be special as will so many other things that have the potential to transpire as I hike the Appalachian Trail.