Monday, October 5, 2009

BEARS, Oh My!

My husband and I are incredibly lucky to live just about an hour or so away from the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It is so beautiful and in my opinion one of the best places to visit during the fall. We have been trying to go, no kidding, for about 4 weekends and it has rained each time, but this weekend seemed like the perfect chance.


One of my favorite parts of the weekend occurred when we were driving from the campsite to a trail (which ended up being all uphill). We turned a corner on a windy road and BAM a Black Bear was right smack in front of us. I stared in shock with my mouth open and said HOLY CRAP it's a bear and started scurrying around for the camera and he was gone. I completely FAILED at getting a picture. How terrible is that?

Apparently there are around 1,500 bears in the park and as many times as we have been up there we have never spotted one. I'm glad I finally got to see one though. It's truly amazing to see that kind of wildlife in their own habitat. Although, I have to say, I was quite scared for the rest of our stay.

It seems as though we picked to stay during prime bear season. There were hunters staying in our campgrounds (we were on the edge of the national park) and signs everywhere such as this one...


We also saw bear tracks on the trails we hiked...


And my wonderful husband decided to throw a hot dog into the woods beside our tent....thanks for trying to attract them honey.

(photo from http://www.nps.gov/)

But we made it out alive and with a memory we will never forget!

9 comments :

  1. How cool and scary at the same time! Wow. I've never seen a bear and hope one day I can see one, other than at the zoo. lol

    Glad you had a great time!

    Happy Monday!

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  2. That would have been a little worrisome to hike with those huge bear tracks! But it does make for great memories!

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  3. You are a brave soul! I would flip out if I were that close to a bear (unless it were behind thick plexiglass at the zoo).

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  4. OMG! You are so brave...nothing scares me more than the thought of running into a bear!!

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  5. OH man, I SOOO want to see a bear!!! Jealous!!!

    I was always in the mountains, my mom saw one once and wouldn't let us outside to see. Dang it! I hope to see one in Colorado!!!

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  6. Ive seen tons of wildlife (being a Mainer) but no bears - Im totally jealous!

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  7. "Aggresive Bear Activity..." - I'm sure it made you nervous when you read it, but I find it humorous when I read it on here. Sorry... I'm glad you guys didn't see the bear face to face!!!!

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  8. AHHHHHHHHHH! Oh my goodness! I real bear, and its eating your food!!! That is soo something my boyfriend would do...always trying to tempt nature! So funny...awesome pictures!

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