Bears

I've seen more bears in the past 3 days than I have in my entire life.  Quite a few of those encounters happened yesterday. 

After leaving Banff, I immedietely entered Kootenay National Park (this whole section of the rockies is really one big national park comprised of Banff, Jasper, Glacier, Revelstoke, Yoho, and Kootenay).  I told myself I had to go on a run today, so I found a hiking trail on the map that looked good.  A small lake about 30 miles down the road would make for a nice flat loop.  5 miles before the lake parking lot, a sign flashes along the highway warning of bears in the area for the next 15km.  I say to myself, ‘bears have the entire world to wonder around, why would there be an exceptional number in the next 15km’.  I ignore the sign, get to my parking spot, throw on the running shorts and head out to the main highway (turns out the lake was only a 100m long trail to an observation deck).  The highways flat to the left.  Ill run that way.  Nope, scratch that.  There’s a black bear.  Literally 100m down the road, a big ole bear’s eating some grass on the roadside, people pulling over to take pictures.  I decide to go the other way.  It’s all downhill, which meant a hell of a run on the way back.  Oh well. Pretty run through the mountains, and I get a workout out of it.  A lady drives by and asks if I want a ride because she said there are bears in the area.   I tell her that the bears are pretty friendly, and would rather run from me.  That’s what I kept telling myself.  100 yards before I reach the car, I see a cub on the other side of the guard rail.  And where there’s a cub, there’s usually a mamma.  I sprint the last bit of my run back to my car.  Never did see that mother bear, thankfully.  Although it could have been the Grizzly that was hanging on the roadside just past where I had parked.  3 bears in a half hour.  Next time, I’ll listen to signs.

Grizzly Bear.  Had I run the other way, I could have had a much closer look at this bear.  Probably too close.

Ironic

The more tranquil mountains of Kootenay National Park