Vangie, Sandra, me and Pam at the start.Pam and I along with two of her former co-workers Sandra and Vangie decided to take drive to Yosemite National Park today for a loop hike up to the top of Nevada Falls by going up the Mist Trail and coming down the John Muir Trail. It was going to be an "easy quick" hike.
We started our hike around 8:30. We all had stopped at the restroom to take care of business. There was a gentleman looking at the bulletin board when we asked him to take our "before" picture. Turns out that this gentlman, whose name was Barry, was from England with his family visiting California. He asked if he could hike with us since he didn't know the park that well. We obliged. Very amiable ole chap. Talked up a storm during the entire hike.
The Mist Trail was pretty dry. Vernal Falls was still flowing but not much as it was back in May when Pam and I went up to Half Dome. We escaped without getting drenched, but still the view was spectacular with the emerald pool at the base of the falls and the sun slowly encroaching its way into the chasm.
This shot reminds me of the song "Stairway to Heaven."When we got to the top of Vernal, we stopped and rested at the overlook for about 15 minutes. Barry and I chatted, while the ladies sat in the shade while exchanging pleasantries.
I was leading the group over the bridge, when I heard this whistling coming from the other side of the Merced River. As I made my way closer to the bridge, I spotted a gentleman who was whistling while he kept pointing in my direction. I came to a dead stop and looked over my right shoulder.
I scanned the terrain and then off in the distance about 50 yards away was this brown hairy hump behind this boulder. Bear. Big bear. Very big bear.
Dah Bear.I alerted the rest of the group and pointed out the bear. Pam, who was toting the camera at the time, was so in awe of finally seeing a bear in the wild (on her terms sans bagel and peanut butter as mentioned in the most recent Mt. Whitney blog post). I had to ask her quickly get out the camera and take a picture.
Two hikers came running downhill to see all the commotion. They went across the bridge and tried to get a better look at the bear and to take some photos. Their report was that it was feasting on a mule deer it had killed.
Uh oh! Never approach a bear while it is eating. It will think of you as competition and will defend what is theirs.
Just as I thought of that, it raised its head and started sniffing and emits a loud snort in our direction.
Uh oh! She is giving us a warning.
I say to the group it is time to leave. Pam decides to turn around and run across the bridge.
Uh oh! Bears interpret that as prey fleeing and will give chase.
I "kindly" remind Pam NOT to run.
Just as we crossed the bridge to give us more distance between us and the bear, the bear decided to go down to the river. Little did we know that following her were two of her cubs, one brown and one black. I figured they were a couple of months old.
Uh oh. Not only a feeding bear but with cubs no doubt.
First immediate thought: Do not get close to a mother bear and her cubs nor get between them.
What a hike. Our first spotting of a bear in its own habitat on its own terms and not in the safe confines of any type of vehicle. We cannot get over the exhiliration of spotting such a magnificent yet dangerous animal.
