The Great Encounter

Day 12 is interrupted in order to give proper time to the biggest thrill of the trip. Here is what happened: While still up on the top of Yosemite, we stopped at a trail head called Mono Meadow Trail. We saw a Ranger there who was preparing to hike the trail himself. We spoke to him briefly with a few questions about the trail. He was very nice. At the trail head, there was a sign stating that if you were camping on the trail, you needed a permit, and FYI this was bear territory! Bravely, we set out for this 0.6 mile steep descent. It was the least marked trail we had been on so far, but it was easy enough to follow. We saw lots of deer tracks. We also saw lots of fallen, decaying trees that had been torn to shreds by hungry bears looking for insects to snack on. Feeling pretty brave, we continued on. Every so often we stopped to look at flowers, birds, or the scenery around us. We (at least I was) on heightened alert for any bear that might be around the next turn. Some where near the bottom of the trail and not to far from Mono Meadow, I lost my nerve. I kept thinking, if Liz knew we were hiking in bear territory, with the intent to see a bear, she would think we were crazy. Then I thought, David would think the same thing! What was I thinking. At that point, the woods suddenly became thicker, darker, more sinister, closing in on me, my PTSD kicking in. Joe sensing my increasing unease, asked me if I wanted to turn around and go back. I did not hesitate! When I turned around, I saw it! Yes, the handsome Ranger we met at the top of the trail! Surely he would protect us if we ventured into the meadow and came up on a bear! Yes, he said! Follow me! (He had a shovel, but no gun!) We had to cross a fallen log over a creek. The meadow in sight. In the mud at the edge of the creek, a bear paw print! Joe snapped some photos. As we looked over the meadow, no bear in sight. Yesterday, some folks told us that they had come to this spot and seen a momma and her two little ones, their heads peeking out of the tall grass. Joe was disappointed. (Secretly, he has held out belief that he will see Sasquach on this trip.) Still he was proud of my bravery for putting my fears aside and making it to the end of the trail. He was never more in love with me than at that moment. Sadly, we turned to head back up. Then, at that same moment, there it was! A bear. I saw it first and said to Joe, something like, OMG! Shit! Look there's a bear. What should we do! The bear was maybe 100 lbs. and 40 feet in front of us. I quickly assessed the seriousness of the situation, and determined that there were a whole heck of a lot of fallen trees between him and us. Not likely that he could come after us. Still primal fear set in and I began to high tail it out of there. Joe, however, continued to linger about, snapping photos of the beast! I keep saying lets go. There might be others nearby! Joe must have been scared to because he grabbed a big heavy stick and started pounding it, beating the path as we hiked the heck out of there! For Joe, his trip was made by this wildlife encounter! For me..........