Over the years, I have met up with a couple of bears in the mountains. I confess, I was very much afraid of bears, having been raised on stories about bears killing people, dragging them out of tents, breaking into cabins, etc. I didn't know at the time, that the worst of these stories were about Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos). Black bears will certainly go after food, but rarely kill or injure people. However, when I first started hiking in the Rocky Mountains, the thought of meeting one really terrified me.
One summer, my husband (John) and two of my daughters (Anna, 14 and Patti, 9) went to Idaho for a back packing trip. Our aging golden retriever was with us, too. We were hiking up a mountain trail with thick forest on either side of us. We hadn't seen a wide spot for a while, but everyone was getting really hungry and thirsty, so when we found a big rock to sit on at the side of the trail, we decided to stop and eat. We were all lined up, with John in front with the dog, the two girls between us and me at the back. All went well, we ate and were feeling much better. I started collecting things and handing them to John to repack, but when I turned to Patti, she was staring back at the edge of the trees, with wide, frightened eyes.
She could barely get the words out - "A bear!"
I turned to see a large Black Bear standing silently about six feet away, sniffing the air, no doubt smelling some tantalizing odors from our food. It had come down out of the forest so quietly, we didn't hear a thing. I don't remember specifically being afraid at that moment. The bear was closer to Patti, and without a thought, I stepped between her and the bear. John stuffed things he had in his hands into his pack, then said something about getting the dog up there to scare the bear away. Somehow, the dogs leash came to me and the dog was beside me, but he was not barking or growling. If he was aware there was a very large black animal right in front of us, he wasn't letting on.
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