Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Waking up in Glacier National Park was definitely bittersweet. It was a thrill to bicycle around the park the day before and enjoy all the natural life! We even met another cyclist in camp, Dylan! He is riding his bicycle to his brothers wedding in New York. Dylan is a recent grad and teacher in the San Fransisco area. He knows a great deal about literature, wears a well kept brown beard, and can pound a chili burger in no time. To put it simply, he is a man's man. But even Dylan will agree that our day riding together was nothing but cold (38 degrees) mixed with a rain that chilled us all to the bone. The forecast called for scattered showers, but we experienced much more than that. We packed up our wet gear and move onto a small town called Essex. The rain just continued to pour. I wanted to cry. Especially because I have been having some trouble shifting my gears and the bicycle is not functioning, trust me it's not an operator error. On top of that Chloe and Pops put me to break the wind in front! I was trying so hard to keep a good pace but my legs were cold and tired. So there I was, a soggy mess and my feet were wet spinning out of control, going nowhere. Then, all of a sudden who pulls up to my side with a little smile on her face, not breaking a sweat? Little Osoita, she came to save the day! It was great, or at least better, considering our circumstance. That is until Papa got a flat tire.

The sun finally started to break through the clouds. Right on cue I  was prompted into song with Annie's the sun will come out tomorrow, our day was beginning to turn around. Chloe was so far ahead of me and Papa, in what she calls " the zone". I on the other hand call it hallin' ass for no apparent reason. As I rode around the bend trying to catch up I realized my efforts were worthless and decided it would be a lot more fun to identify flowers on the side of the road. So I stopped. After a few minutes of frolicking in the flowers I noticed  something peculiar, there was no Pops coming around the corner. I waited, still nothing. Regretfully I decided to turn around and go find him. I only say this because I had just finished climbing a hill. Against the wishes of my legs, which were telling me to stay put, I convinced myself it was the right thing to do. 
It's a scary thing when you loose your Papa. Just like when you loose anything, all of these bad thoughts creep into your mind. I thought to myself "oh no where is that little old man, surely he didn't fall into another ditch, what if he hurt himself, or fell over into the road, great, how am I supposed to find him..." Just then I saw something move, but it was low in the brush and still too far away to make out any detail of the object. As I got closer I realized it was moving, slowly, it was curiously hunkered down in this fetal position. All of a sudden I saw it! A wild Pa! Cute lil' guy was sitting in the grass fixing his flat tire. I said "hey, there you are, I started to worry. Oh by the way I have no idea where Chloe is, probably at the halfway cabin with a hot chocolate in hand because that little girl don't wait for no one!" We laughed, not too much time passed before we saw  Chloe riding back. Yay! All together again. Just then our cycling buddy Dylan rolled up and we all rode together! He is such a cool guy, so friendly, and it's nice to know that someone else is on the trail with you. 
We made it to our cabin just outside of Essex. Dylan went ahead to camp at another site. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. 
Oh wait. Except for the Grizzly Bear that we saw only  30 feet away from our cabin!! Yes it was that close. It was the first time Chloe and I have ever seen a bear in the wild! It was such an amazing animal. So big and so brown! Pa said it was a juvie. For being young it still looked to weigh about 400 pounds! It's funny because for the past two days we have been camping in the park and Osoita refuses to put her food and bags away into a bear box. She insists that "bears are nocturnal, they won't come out this early, I have nothing to worry about." Oh was she so wrong. I am now completely in love with bears. We watched our grizzly friend until he retreated into the woods. 
Five minutes later Chloe and I decided it was time to check out the country store and re-stock our depleting food storages. I joked around "better bring the bear spray, just in case." We started walking and I was stopped dead in my tracks. I grabbed Chloe's arm as she said "what, what?" There in the road right in front of us was the same juvie bear! It was a little scary to see the bear right in the open. It didn't pay us any attention and continued to cross the road. I later learned more about the grizzly bear. It's fascinating because the juvie bear we saw was about two years old, sometime last winter Mama bear  kicked out our furry friend because she had a new cub.Folks around here call the new born bear "cub of the year", and the older  bear a "yearling". When Mama bear "dens up" and has her new cub of the year, she doesn't wanna be crowded by all them kids! As a solution she kicks out the yearling. They no longer live or hibernate together. Poor little guy. That's all for now!

Hannah