I went for a hike today with the expressed purpose of finding a bear to photograph. After nearly an hour I was distracted from my intended purpose when I saw a cliff that I wanted to get to the top of. I did, and the view was absolutely amazing (see my Facebook photos for those pics). Once at the top of the cliff I discovered a road, so I decided to follow it for a while to see where it lead me.
I was walking along, having completely forgotten that I was looking for bears when, upon rounding a corner I spotted this rolly poly creature. I never got closer than a little over 100 feet from him (I’m so thankful for good zoom on my camera), so I was in no immediate danger, but as soon as I saw the bear my hear rate definitely increased.

As I watched the bear retreat up the hillside I was amazed at how silently the bear could move. I listened as it moved away, but couldn’t hear it make a sound.

It was a pretty neat experience. It did have me on edge a little afterwards though, and I was startled when I heard some wild horses in the bush. It took me a few moments to realize just what it was I was hearing since they were hiding in some thick trees and were hard to see.

I did manage to survive my hike without getting mauled by a bear or trampled by wild horses, but my feet are killing me since I didn’t exactly wear the appropriate footwear for the hike I ended up taking.