Date: 2009-07-07
From: Bearfence Hut

To: Birds Nest No.3 Hut
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: few clouds

I finally came face to face with my first Shenandoah bear late yesterday afternoon (just after leaving the campground where I called Libby). I had been starting to wonder if I might suffer the misfortune (might it even be ignominy) of traversing the park completely bearless. Fear not though, true to everybody else¢s assertions, the park does indeed seem to be crawling with the big furry fellows. Not that one swallow makes a spring of course, but given three additional encounters today the evidence is beginning to mount.The first occurred following a morning of ¢ok¢ but ¢fairly rocky¢ Trial and after a refreshing stop at ¢Skyland¢. A campsite/souvenir place where, although I didn¢t buy any bear fridge magnets (I may have been tempted), I partook of some ice-cream, apple juice and a minor snack resupply to help me through the rest of the day. The ladies at the store spoke of a bear that hung about up here and I wondered if, a mile or two later, it might have been the same fellow that I ran into.I was dawdling along, not paying much attention to anything when I got a bit of a shock to notice a bear busy clawing away at an old log. It was only about 20 feet away and after the initial heart stopping moment I quickly scurried back a few paces to what I supposed was relative safety. The bear on the other hand paused, looked up at me, seemed completely underwhelmed and turned back to its log: ripping away, snuffling around and presumably occupying itself with the task of finding the necessary grub or two that would help keep hunger at bay. Here was my chance to get those photographs that had otherwise proved elusive during my previous bear encounters. I sat myself down on my pack to get on with the business of recording the event for posterity. Finally losing interest in his log the bear then turned onto the Trail and, rather worryingly, towards me. Whoops !! Another quick strategic retreat; then ¢shit¢ what about my pack (and its food); a speedy retrieval and shouldering of the said pack; during all of which the bear had once again sauntered off into the woods. He was in truth a bit mangy but it was the longest and closest encounter I had had by some way and so was still somewhat memorable. It was also a bit unreal though, feeling more like a wildlife park that the wild. It proved so much of what you hope for but strangely it was not a thrilling encounter. Many of those before had more of that special something.I bumped into another similarly blas© bear a couple of hours later. Again it was unworried and uninterested in the gallery of camera toting tourists it had attracted. Wandering around, 10 to 20 yards from the Trail, grubbing about in the undergrowth, unobstructed by trees and vegetation. This was a fine looking bear though and again I sat down for 10 minutes watching its comings and goings before it wandered away.Number three wasn¢t such an attention seeker. I was walking along one of the many sections of the Trail that run parallel to, and just below the road. I was starting to tire and it was hot out to the shade but then all of a sudden there was a clatter of rocks above me and another bear scrambled upwards. Because of the slope it looked like it was sitting up, brown muzzle turned towards me. It maybe stayed like that for 3 seconds then (almost mole like) disappeared head first into the bushes, the foliage initially parting before springing back across its dark rump. It was no more ¢ a fine disappearing trick for such a large animal. By in a flash, no photos, awe inspiring, perfect.