On our way toward Eagles Roost as we started out on Section II, hikers coming the other way told us that the Park Service had closed the back-packing campground at Sunrise because an aggressive adolescent bear had become a problem. But that was still 5 days away for us, and except for Brian and Michele’s encounter, we saw no other bears. And there was no danger at our campsite at White River [public] Campground near Sunrise on the evening of Day 13…too much noise, too many people, too much smoke. (Linda and I did hear a sound on the trail that was likely a bear only about 30-45 minutes before we reached White River.) (more…)

The approach to Curtis Ridge on Day 10 took us up a long, narrow, beautifully lush ravine about 30′ across at the start that was heavily forested on each side, with a creek running down the bottom next to the trail, and boulders and flowers carpeting the floor of the ravine. Hiking alone on this beautiful, warm, sunny day at the back of our group – maybe 5 minutes behind Patricia, I was keenly aware that this was BEAR country. So about every 20 feet, I was yelling out ‘Hey Bear, hello Bear!! I’m just passing through!’ (more…)