The short hike to the spring was almost mosquito-free, but at the spring itself (at the edge of a boggy meadow, admittedly), they were out in force. We still made time to sample the water, which was pleasantly fizzy with a metallic aftertaste. We all found it intriguing enough to go back for a second, third and fourth handful, and lamented the fact that we'd left our water bottles in the car. We'll know next time.
Having had enough of the mosquitoes we turned and headed back to the car. Maria was in front, Merewyn close behind with me then Andrew a few metres back. Maria rounded a bend in the trail and came to a dead stop, suddenly saying in a loud calm voice "Hello bear!" We all ground to a halt, and I have a vivid mental picture of a healthy-looking medium-sized black bear standing in the middle of the narrow trail, barely 10 feet in front of Maria and Merewyn. I fancy it had a surprised expression but that's probably just my imagination. We retreated a few metres, maintaining our raised voice banter of "Hello bear", "Just letting you know we're here", "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you" for a minute or two before venturing around the corner to see if it was still there. The bear had calmly moved off the trail into the undergrowth, snapping a few branches as it went (perhaps as a show of displeasure). We hurried past saying farewell to the bear, and I could make out its ears among the leaves and branches as I walked by. I snapped a photo but you really can't tell there's a bear in there :-) I think that was our closest bear encounter to date.
A hole in the ground
No comments:
Post a Comment