Let Me Take You On A Little Camping Trip Day 3

Well, here we are at day 3 and you're still looking for the bear. It's here, I assure you.

But first, and the crowd sighs "Aw crap", let me tell you how the walk went. The first picture is from the beginning of the trail.

The start

Then to give you a little perspective of how small we really are compared, take a look up.

That is one big tree

So we're walking along one of the "boardwalks" actually right at the beginning and some woman walks by us and whispers "There is a bear up there". I asked "Why are you whispering?" She said because there is a bear up there."

OK, Flatlanders. The bear could care less if you talk loud. Apparently the bear couldn't care if you were even there. So here you are.............

The bear

No accounting for the photographer (Moi).

As we continue on, the next picture is of a tree root. Not deep, but really wide.

Big roots

The next photo is of a Pacific Yew Tree. I've heard in the past that the Yew might have cancer curing abilities. Still to be determined. This spot is the southernmost extent of the Yew's "territory" if you will and the northernmost extent of the Giant Sequoia's "territory".

Pacific Yew Tree

Oh yeh, here is another shot of the bear. I guess the photographer has something to be desired.

Bear

When I lived upcountry, a tree like the one below would have kept me in firewood for years.

Walk between

A lot of the trees we came across were hollow like the one below.

Claustrophobic?

Hey look! Another bear picture. I'm getting better.

Bear grubbing?

I would like to note that all the Flatlanders scattered when she (it was a female with cubs, but we couldn't see them) got this close. How close is close? She was about 20 feet away. A little later in the walk we came across a Park Ranger and she was the one who told us about the cubs.

She just kept scratching on the tree looking for bugs to eat. She wasn't very big, maybe 150 lbs.

I know there is lunch in there somewhere. 

I won't bore you with the other hundred or so photo's we took, but want to leave you with one to give you some perspective of just how big these trees are and these three are considered small.

The Three Graces

At the park they are big on naming each of the trees. I guess it gives them a personal attachment to every tree. Probably not a bad thing. The Three Graces are named for the Three Graces of Greek mythology (Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia). I'm not up on Greek mythology, but you can look it up. I'd put the link, but it's about a mile long.

So that was our June trip this year. Not a lot of fishing, but you don't see a bear up close and personal every day. I doubt I'll be out this week since it's supposed to be well over 100 degrees through Saturday. If I do decide to brave the heat, I'll be sure to let you know.

And the answer to the question from the first post was Sequoia. It is the only tree that uses every vowel in the name. Howard was the only one to hazard a guess and since I gave the answer in the post I decided not to send Howard any flies. Complain all you want Howard, it won't do you any good. Signed: The grumpy Geezer.

Stay tuned.