Don’t Fear the Bear

We were doing some exploring in the Bighorn Mountains today. Shannon wanted to make a stop along the river to get a closer look, so I found a nice spot right along the road that had a small pullout. It was a very serene little hideaway with a small wooded bridge over the river. Very pretty. We walked to the other side of the bridge and I found a “trail” that appeared to go a short distance to the top of a hill… so naturally I decided to explore a little further while Shannon was admiring the flowing river.

It was a nice little spot with the river on one side and the canyon wall on the other, lined with some light brush underneath. After walking for just a few minutes a heard a “grunt-grunt”. Hmm, I thought, maybe I should make a little noise… so I started whistling and continued to walk. After 20 more yards or so I heard it again, “grunt-grunt”. Ok, now it’s time to turn around. As I started heading down I noticed Shannon had followed me. She had the “just seen a ghost” look on her face. She heard the “grunt-grunt” as well. So, we bristly walked back down to the bridge where I suddenly identified the “grunt-grunt”. It was the cattle guard in the road with the occasional passing vehicle… “grunt-grunt”.

So the lesson learned from this experience was (1) don’t hike alone, (2) always carry bear spray and (3) don’t fear the cattle guard.