So last night I was going to camp at this campground at the end of a closed FS road. The first 13 miles were paved, and the remaining two were dirt/gravel. The grade was very slight. It gained maybe 500 ft over the 15 miles. I didn't get out of town as early as I had hoped and it was full on dark before I got to where I was going to camp. Anyway, I'm pedaling up this valley. Probably on about mile 7 of 15.
There's this down hill stretch so I'm cruising maybe 25ish. I come around this corner and there's a Black Bear in the road. I can barely make it out in the bike headlight. He starts running away from me up the road. I"m braking so that I don't get to close. I"m ~30ft off his left shoulder, we're both going the same speed for 2 or 3 seconds. He finally veers right and charges up the hillside into the timber.
They say that they are more afraid of us than we are of them. I had planned to sleep in a tarp on the ground. I ended up pedaling all the way back to my car and I slept in the car.
Saturday morning was pretty uneventful. I found a 5 - 10 year old clearcut and was trying to call in a bear. The bear never showed up but a coyote did. I watched it for a while then it ran off. Saw a porcupine, and a deer. Mule deer doe. It had some kind of growth on it's hind quarter. It was the size of a cantaloupe, and it was all wrinkled like a brain. Weird.
One of these weekend, I'll get to say BBD...
