Our First Black Bear Sighting: Day 28

The next 12 days were supposed to be on and off thunderstorms, but this morning was bright and sunny. Storm clouds out in the distance kept a close reminder that rain was not far away. We made one last stop at the outfitter in town since it was right on trail and everyone except Danny who already had an umbrella picked up ultralight umbrellas. If we were doing 5 days and it was supposed to rain the whole time, we wanted to be more dry than the sweaty soggy frogg toggs made us. We had Mr. Jenny along with us this morning as we hiked. He looked like he could run up mountains by how muscly he was, but we soon found that he trudged up the mountains like a tortoise. Slow and steady not taking breaks but a bit too slow for us. We soon passed him while climbing and wondered when we’d see him next. It wasn’t too long before we stopped for a snack break after going downhill that he caught us. We had stopped by a pretty little lake when Mr. Jenny comes puffing to the pond. He ripped off his shirt and splashed himself with water. “It’s frickin hot man” He said. We talked for a bit and then pressed on to a predetermined spot for lunch. We were all starving by the time we arrived and ravenously began preparing lunch. I was trying out a new lunch option this stretch. Stove top stuffing and instant gravy mix. It was actually one of my favorite trail foods so far. A nice change up from the Ramen. We were all sitting there eating when Mr. Jenny again comes huffing and puffing over the hill. “I thought I heard you kids sitting up here. I thought I wouldn’t see you again”. Once again his shirt came flying off as he sits down to eat lunch. “I’ll tell you what man, this day has turned out to be alright. I hope it doesn’t rain. You kids going to the shelter?” “We’re actually going to push past to the next highway” I replied. “Damn you little suckers are moving fast” he says. “Alright well hopefully I’ll see you further up the trail.” We all set off again for camp. We had about 8 miles left to cover and a pretty easy terrain. Spirits high, we continued down the trail when I spotted three jet black fur balls out in the distance. Down the hill from where we stood, a mother bear and her two cubs stood staring at us. We stared back for a while and then they proceeded further down the hill away from us. These were the first bears I had seen yet and I was glad they were at a safe distance. I could wait on an up close and personal meeting with a bear.