Great post, Tricia! My heart was pounding for you. When we visited Alaska, we saw bears in Anchorage (from the safety of a car), but we had one stressful hike to a remote lake, where a sign was posted that there was a bear kill at the lake that morning. I did a lot of yelling, "Hey bear" that day. I've had good luck seeing bears in the Smokey Mountains. We went in late April a couple years ago, and there were tons of bears out. I couldn't believe all the people getting out of their vehicles to get a better picture up close! We ended up skipping some hikes after we saw bears near the parking areas. Final bear story: I can't recall ever seeing one in Michigan, but I'm pretty sure one walked near my parents' house one summer night. I could hear something outside, and a horrible smell came through the open window at the same time. It was too dark to see, but I'm guessing it was a bear passing by.
Love your bear stories! The remote lake hike with a fresh bear kill is INTENSE. (And good job on being Bear Aware and not going in for a selfie. Some of the things I've seen people do around wildlife, I swear....)
Great post, Tricia! My heart was pounding for you. When we visited Alaska, we saw bears in Anchorage (from the safety of a car), but we had one stressful hike to a remote lake, where a sign was posted that there was a bear kill at the lake that morning. I did a lot of yelling, "Hey bear" that day. I've had good luck seeing bears in the Smokey Mountains. We went in late April a couple years ago, and there were tons of bears out. I couldn't believe all the people getting out of their vehicles to get a better picture up close! We ended up skipping some hikes after we saw bears near the parking areas. Final bear story: I can't recall ever seeing one in Michigan, but I'm pretty sure one walked near my parents' house one summer night. I could hear something outside, and a horrible smell came through the open window at the same time. It was too dark to see, but I'm guessing it was a bear passing by.
Love your bear stories! The remote lake hike with a fresh bear kill is INTENSE. (And good job on being Bear Aware and not going in for a selfie. Some of the things I've seen people do around wildlife, I swear....)