I saw a bear!!

I've been a semi-regular hiker at Shenandoah since I moved here a year ago. (Though not nearly as frequently as I want.) I actually haven't seen that much wildlife in my hikes, although a few months ago I saw a deer. In the last few months, I've been really, really, really wanting to see a bear! Shenandoah has black bears. Supposedly.

Today was my lucky day! First of all, early this afternoon, we had an activity with the mid-singles group in the stake. We did an easy hike up to Blue Hole, this nearby swimming hole. This isn't in Shenandoah, but it's not far from the park. We saw a bear!! It looked like a teenage bear (if such a thing exists). I didn't have my camera though, but I was still excited to see one! It was well off the trail, but we got to watch it for a few minutes.

After the activity, I went to Shenandoah to do some more hiking. I hiked a 6.5-mile loop that took me past the Jones Run and Doyle falls. (Three waterfalls in total.) There were parts of the trail that were actually pretty steep. And it was so humid! But I had loads of fun.

The last 1.2 miles was along a relatively flat, narrow stretch of the Appalachian trail. I was about 0.5 miles from the end, when I saw it ahead of me....a BEAR! And it was an adult bear this time! It was on the trail, about 30 meters in front of me, at most. I totally froze when I saw it, as it sort of startled me, and I waited for it to make the first move. (It saw me too. However, it seemed much less impressed by me.) Once it started moving away, I tried to grab my camera to take a picture. I wasn't fast enough...

Honestly, I don't even know if the bear is anywhere in this picture. So not only is the picture kind of blurry, but I don't think the bear is even in it.

So I continued on my way, and the bear was out of sight. Though after about a minute, I thought, I have to go back and get a better picture! So I gingerly retraced my steps, in an attempt to find the bear again. It had crossed to the other side of the trail and I saw it through the trees. It was much harder to photograph now, and I had to zoom way in.

Despite the fact that this looks like a picture of Bigfoot, I SWEAR there is a bear in there.

No really. It's right there in the middle. A big, black bear!

Best hike ever!