Date: 2013-07-14
From: Blackrock Hut

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: light rain

Day 58 - Hightop HutAnyone looking too see a bear needs to hike the stretch from Blackrock Hut to Ivy Creek Gap. I saw SIX bears in about an 8-10 mile stretch, and they seem to enjoy the AT through here as much as we do. Remember the part where I said bears generally run away when they see people? Well that just isn't the case in this park. They don't care one bit that you're there. The good news is, if I didn't get attacked by a bear today then I probably won't (knock on wood obviously)... The first one was on the trail and I saw it before it saw me. So I backed up and hid, then followed it as it walked right down the trail for like 5 minutes. Eventually, some people coming the other way scared it by banging their hiking poles together, so of course it starts running down the trail towards me. As it came, I said "no" a couple of times pretty loudly (like "nope you don't want to do this"), and it jumped off into the woods to my left before getting too close. I took a bunch of pictures. I saw the second off in the woods, and it wasn't real close. Now, the third, fourth and fifth were where it got interesting. A couple of hours had passed, and I was zoned out as I was hiking along. I don't know what I was thinking about, but I should have been paying better attention. Before I even realized what was going on, I was literally less than 10 feet from a mama bear, who took a couple quick steps toward me and snorted/hissed. Turns out she had been laying in the weeds within like 3 feet of the trail, while her 2 cubs were behind her climbing trees. I unknowingly got up in their business and mama wasn't too happy about it.   When she took her steps toward me, she had to have gotten within 5-7 feet of me. I immediately backed away rather quickly and said something along the lines of "it's alright" a few times. Once I backed up far enough that she was satisfied, she resumed her spot in the grass while the cubs got down from the trees. Once they were down, the mama led them further down the trail, so I followed to make sure I knew where they were. After like 10 minutes of this, they made their way into the woods to my left far enough that I could pass. The problem is that the trail immediately button-hooked it back to the left so that I once again met them as they came out of the woods and the trail. The mama hissed/snorted again, and I again backed away.   They continued sauntering down the trail, and eventually crossed a creek where they turned up rocks looking for (presumably) bugs. Eventually I was able to pass, but the whole ordeal probably took 15 or more minutes. It was totally crazy and scared the crap out of me! I was definitely a little "bearanoid" the rest of the day. The last one a saw was probably 15 minutes after that, and it again was off the trail about 20 yards and just watched me as I passed. I can't believe how many bears there are here, but I don't really need to see any more!When I wasn't seeing bears, I was hiking along the rolling wooded trails like usual. I guess the woods are different here in that there is a really dense underbrush, which is from waist to shoulder height, and which apparently the bears love to hang out in. Other than that, it's been similar to the rest of Virginia (minus the massive climbs). I also stopped at my first wayside, which was awesome. It's basically a facility which has a little gift shop and a cafe-like area where you order your food up at the counter. I had a bacon cheeseburger, fries, soda, coffee and cone of blackberry ice cream. I stayed there for like 2 hours and loved every minute of it. There's a few more in the park, and I am thoroughly excited. They should have them the whole way up the trail, if you want my opinion. When I finally got the the shelter I hung out with Mac & Cheese and Molasses, a father and son team who are hiking southbound from Harpers Ferry. It was nice to talk to some people, as I've been hiking alone quite a bit. I haven't seen Sir Stooge since the day before Waynesboro, and I haven't seen Xy or any of that crew since Buena Vista.   I wonder where they could be....