Hello Mr. Grizzly Bear

It's a long story so bear with me (heehee) ;)

We did a long 13 or so mile hike one day. Around mile 8-10 we came across this very minimalistic chalet people have to hike to and can stay overnight. A couple of people told us they saw a large male grizzly on one trail we were going to be taking but that he was far away. We continued on and passed two guys who said they saw the bear about a mile back but also said he was super far away. Jason was kind of excited to be able to take a picture of this bear. Well a mile came and went and there was no bear. Figured he had moved out of sight or something. At this point we are only 2-3 miles from being done with the hike and aren’t even thinking about bears anymore.

I was walking in front and as we turned a bend the bear was RIGHT there about 10 feet from us. Too close to walk by and too close to just back up. We were talking but apparently weren’t being very loud. I reacted and clapped really loud. All the rangers told us to yell or clap when going around blind corners to not surprise a bear but I’m not too sure you’re actually supposed to clap AT the bear :) The grizzly stood up on his hind legs, pretty big, and then ran away. When he first ran he went into a bush and you couldn’t tell if he was coming at us or away. That was a fun second ;) We walked pretty fast the rest of the way down! It was just the rejuvenation I needed to finish the long hike!

Ironically, this was the only day we forgot to bring our bear spray. We did a hike at the beginning of our trip where we were completely isolated, not a single person out there and the trail was overgrown at parts. We saw multiple signs of a grizzly bear then and I was actually more nervous on that hike when we had the bear spray and didn’t even see the bear then when we actually ran into one! Jason took a picture when we were far away from the bear. Unfortunately, you can’t see just how large he was!

Besides all the fun bear stuff it was such an amazing trip! I’ll make Jason blog more about the trip later but it was beyond words!!!!

Things I learned on our trip…

1. Six tenths of a mile can be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.

2. I have a love/hate relationship with facebook. I didn’t check it while on our trip and loved it, but when I’m home I can’t seem to stay away.

3. My goal is to never allow Kate to watch MTV.

4. Kate will also be ending her semi dance career by the ripe age of 5. Have you seen Dance Moms???? Who are these people?!

5. EVERYTHING is more fun with someone you LOVE

6. If a bear was to charge me I could stand my guard without freaking out. In this situation I also have the fight not flight reaction (maybe too much actually).

7. It’s more fun to turn the TV off and listen to the creek out on your balcony.

8. No camera or lens can fully capture what the human eye can see.

9. The air out West really is cleaner and easier to breathe without all the humidity and smog.

10. I love hiking and being in nature but I also love seeing the buildings of downtown Atlanta. It just makes me happy.

11. You can do almost ANYTHING when you finally have some hours in the day where you don’t feel like death.

12. My life would be complete if I had someone to cook 3 real meals for me each day. I also am happiest when I eat an outrageously ginormous breakfast everyday.

13. It’s nice having someone who completely loves you