The Bear
It’s a personal goal of mine to travel to all of the National Parks, and luckily my husband shares the same dream. We recently traveled to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Shenandoah is known for having a pretty high bear population of 200-1000 bears in the 311 square miles that make up the park. Being a diligent camper and previous girl scout, I made sure I had a whistle and bear spray.
Upon getting to our campsite, which was inside the park, we were informed by the Ranger that there was an aggressive bear on the property. The rangers had moved all campers on the outer edge inward and had set bear traps. They advised us to leave all food, along with sunscreen, bug spray and toiletry items in the car with the windows up and doors closed. I felt prepared with my bear spray, but I was asked to not use it in the campgrounds. Instead, we are supposed to yell that there is a bear in the campsite to notify the other campers, remain calm, while backing away, and talk assertively to the bear. We also can bang pots and pans together to deter the bear from coming closer.
Our campsite was gorgeous. We were atop a mountain and surrounded by trees. The Appalachian Trail ran around our campsite and we frequently saw “though” hikers. A through hiker is someone who is hiking the entire 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine or reversed if you prefer. Our first night there, the campgrounds felt busy, and I definitely felt anxious that I might cross paths with a not so friendly Yogi. However, as time went on, my anxiety lessened more and more. Especially on our hikes, as the trails were relatively populated and the fear of running into a bear became pretty obsolete. We completed four hikes on this trip, each one as beautiful as the last.
Sunday was our last day and we hiked Bearfence Trail. I loved it. We hiked straight up, then turned right and had to rock climb over a rock scramble (it’s exactly what you think, a big messy pile of rocks). The view at the top was 360 and each way you looked, you could see the blue ridges kissing the sky. We stood there for a while and watched the clouds quickly roll past us as a storm was coming in. The last half of the hike was on the actual Appalachian Trail. It was rocky at some points and smooth in others, but what remained the same was the energy of all the people who had conquered this same stretch countless times before.
We returned to our campsite for the last night with bellies full of BBQ. Being that it was Sunday night, the campground was practically empty. It seemed everyone else had to return to their normal lives. We took full advantage of our time off, and enjoyed our fire while playing a new card game until all the wood had been used.
At lights out we entered our tent, snuggled into our sleeping bags, and began chatting quietly. Then I heard two sticks snap, followed by a very loud sniffing. I told my husband to be quiet by putting a finger to my lips. We both sat still, assessing what noises we were hearing. The sniffing continued, it was the loudest sniffing I had ever heard, it felt as if the creature was right next to me. Just on the other side of the thin polyester. I quickly exited my sleeping bag to look out the front and back of the tent. I couldn’t see anything through the plastic window shield. Then I turned to the side of our tent and with one finger I pulled down the covering that blocked the netted window. I could see it. The creature’s back was brown and glistened in the moon light, being that it was on all fours I knew it was the bear. Its head was down, nuzzling into the ground, searching for something. My husband stood next to me. Both of us frozen with quiet breath. We watched it silently in disbelief. Then it began to lift its head and that's when we knew it was in fact a deer. It was the scariest deer I have ever encountered.
Sincerely,
Sarah
