The Bear Facts!

Well, I am back from an absolutely fantastic weekend. Feels like I was gone for a week. There are tons of pictures...tidepools and an unplanned for but fabulous backpacking trip...but I thought I'd share the bear first.

Bear! I was driving our of Humboldt Redwoods State Park on my way to King's Range Wilderness towards the end of the day when I noticed a large black bear meandering around at the side of the road. He headed into the woods when he saw my car (good for him). So I did what any sensible person would do, right, and parked as quickly as I could and followed him up into the woods.

Mind you, there *was* this little tiny voice in the back of my head going, "you know you're FOLLOWING the BEAR, right? As opposed to, say, going away from it? Did you notice that this wasn't a small bear?" But mostly I was just thrilled. He was quite unconcerned and had to know I was there (we were both making a racket walking through the dead leaves) but as long as I kept a reasonable distance, he let me observe.

He was an absolutely gorgeous bear, deep brown with gold upon his back and shoulders, which stood about five feet. He was long of claw and foreleg, and I got to see him...just being a bear, living his life. He nibbled some red flowers and clawed at a tree and groomed his paw and shoulder. If I got too close he would stop and look at me, and then move away. Once, I crouched down a little and he started to walk towards me, so I stood up quickly and he backed off. Finally, something startled him (the wind had changed...perhaps he caught my scent. Their eyesight is not great) and he ran deeper into the woods, amazingly silent given how loud he was when he was foraging. This time I didn't follow.

It was a stunning thing, to be so close to this wild creature, no fence or car or anything between us. I've seen wild bears on several occasions before, a couple of times in camp in the middle of the night (when you really don't want to see them) or running away really fast on the trail. Never just to be near one, watching it, neither of us threatened. I feel so blessed.

I did get a couple of pictures, although the light was too poor for them to come out clearly. So fuzzy pics, but still neat ones.

( bear behind there )

Solstice trip 2007: King's Range/Lost Coast Tidepooling!

So, the purpose of my travels north this weekend (other than to re-center and care for myself, and to come to peace with certain painful experiences of the past year) was to find excellent tidepooling and river swimming. Wow, did I find both! I was originally going to the same beach I was at last time, but I happened to pick up a map at a ranger station that showed the road to the trailhead at the northern end of King's Range/Lost Coast. I have backpacked in Sinkyone Wilderness at the southern end a lot, but I'd never been here. So after I investigated the pools where I'd originally planned to go, I checked it out.

It was amazing. Empty, remote wilderness and a trail that is, most of the time, actually on the beach (and passable only at lower tides). So I found myself unexpectedly backpacking...lucky I brought my pack, even if I DID carry food for the dogs because I didn't bring their packs. :P Backpacking and tidepooling *at the same time*! Looking into pools without even having to take the pack off! Jackel heaven!!! I was just incredibly happy.

So I hiked a round trip of maybe 20 miles. Hiking on sand was a little hard, and it was very windy and exposed. But the beauty was stunning. I'll definitely be going back there.

here are the first half of the pictures.

( image-heavy )

More King's Range/Lost Coast pics

These pictures are more scenery and wildlife and a little less of the dogs.

Besides the bear, there was another extremely memorable wildlife encounter. I was at the furthest point of the hike, curled up with my exhausted dogs on the beach, trying to stay out of the wind by being in the leeward side of a big rock. The tide was high and I was eyeing the surf, wondering if I was going to get woken in the night by very cold seawater on my toes, when a sleek animal came up out of the surf right in front of me. Maybe 6-7 feet away. I thought it was a seal at first, a pup because it was too small. Then it came swiftly all the way out with none of the wriggling, difficult effort pinnipeds have when on land and I realized that I was looking at a sea otter.

She had a big silver fish which she subdued and then ate very quickly. She bounced along the shore a bit, satisfied, and groomed the fur on her shoulders, that amazing fur for which they were almost hunted to extinction and which even a few seconds out of water was going fluffy. I've never seen one out of water, even in captivity: she looked just like a river otter, only a lot bigger, with perhaps a wider tail. It was strange, a little disconcerting, to see something that looked so much like a terrestrial, fresh-water beast so comfortable in the ocean.

She groomed herself and then ran along the strand a bit with that lovely, slinky musteline gait, and then with an achingly beautiful ease returned to the waves. I was utterly stunned. These are very rare animals...there are only a few thousand off the whole California coast...and as I understand it is unusual for them to come ashore, since they even sleep and give birth in the sea. I think this one must have driven the fish into the shallows to catch it and then stopped to eat. There really aren't words for the beauty of this playful, graceful...perfect...creature, in her natural home, living her life well.

I took no pictures of the otter; I didn't even try, didn't move, didn't take my eyes from her. I could never forget the sight of such a thing.

I did, however, get some good ones of creatures equally lovely and perfect, but a little more sessile. ;)

( You know the drill, under the cut. A couple of these may have an 'eeww' factor for some people )