On a dayhike up to Martins Park above Low Divide (between the Elwha and North Fork Quinault river valleys in the Olympic National Park), we saw this black bear browsing the fresh greens. We were a little nervous … the above photo was taken with a normal lens … not a telephoto. But we had seen black bears a number of times before and hadn’t found them aggressive. Regardless, we didn’t stay around to do any bear watching. Our nervousness increased quite dramatically when the bear followed us for a mile or so down to near where our campsite was at Low Divide. We took special care to bear proof our food that night.
You are very brave, I would be there unless carrying a shotgun!
Ah, no firearms allowed in the park!
True, Inwas kidding. 😂
Wow crazy! Remember my US Highschool days in the Pocono Mountains in upststate Pennsylvania. Living on a farm up on a hill we frequently had black bears cross our path on our way down to the school bus stop. Never had any issues. It was a peaceful co-existence student / bear 🤣
Yes, that had been our experience. Peaceful coexistence, with the bears taking off at the first notice of us. The unusual behavior was concerning.
Yes, that would cause a little nerves for sure and definitely securing the food for the night! We’ve experienced “shadowing” before, too. That behaviour makes me very unsettled.
We were used to them running away from us, so we were concerned with the ‘abnormal’ behavior.
That would be very nerveracking, I’m not sure I would have slept that night!
A long day hiking helps…