While I kneeled down to take a photo of the second bear scat pile I had discovered about 20 feet from the first, I thought “cool, I wonder if the bear is still around.” I received an answer very quickly!
I looked up to see a beautiful, wild black bear gazing at me. What an incredible encounter-just the two of us, high on the Kuna Crest, and miles from a trail and other people. He considered me for a time, then bounded up the rocks and away. I stood there so full of joy and gratitude for his visit.
Encounters with wild things are the most profound moments of my life. As one of my favorite writers, Craig Childs, said “..Times that I have seen animals have been like knife cuts in fabric. Through these stabs I could see a second world ...”