Hey Bear! - Part 3 of 3

Random Encounters with Ursus Unexpecticus

You can find PART 1 of this story here.

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One of the more entertaining bear encounters I can share involved both Kris and I during a visit to Yosemite National Park in 2007. We’d reserved a tent cabin at Curry Village in the valley. After checking in, we went off exploring for the day, the weather blissfully perfect.

It got dark on us when we returned, and I was surprised to see how quiet the place had become. Not a soul in sight. We each popped into a restroom to brush teeth and all, and somehow Kris came back out before me. It’s usually the other way around. When she didn’t see me, she thought, well the creep must have already walked back to the tent cabin. She started that way with a small flashlight.

Looking ahead, she noticed two beady little lights by a tree. Then two more beady little lights below. She quickly realized these were the eyes of animals in the dark. In the same moment, a sow huffed and lunged right toward her. And right there with mama bear was a cub. Kris calmly walked backwards, wondering out loud where I was. She reached the restroom just as I was just coming out, and proceeded to tell me what had happened. She was rightly proud for not freaking out.

We walked the same path together, that being the only way back to our tent cabin. And sure enough, the bear charged us both this time. A bluff charge. Of course, we backed off. We’re right back at the restroom again where there’s a modicum of light. Hmm. Now what to do?