Over, Under, or Around
I was fortunate to see lots of wildlife during my 7 weeks on the PCT. The most common question is, “Did you see a bear?”, and yes, happily, I did. From a distance, fortunately. Just about the perfect distance, really. Far enough that the bear didn’t seem to notice or care about me(us actually, as I was standing on the trail talking with another hiker), but close enough that we could see the bear clearly and watch it for quite a while. A beautiful cinnamon colored bear, he or she ambled uphill across an open meadow and disappeared into some trees.
The most enjoyable encounter was with a simple bumblebee. Again, while standing and taking a moment to rest, a bumblebee landed on my hand. I didn’t shake it off, as I was under the impression they can’t sting(turns out they can, but rarely do), so I stood there and watched it. It walked back and forth across my hand, feeling around with its proboscis, most likely taking salt I would guess. It was a couple minutes even before I pulled out my phone to take pictures of it - one handed - as I kept expecting it to fly away, but I think it stayed with me for six or seven minutes altogether. It was probably the most zen-like wildlife moment on the trail, very quiet, very focused, very peaceful.
I also saw ermine(very shy), mule deer(lots of them, not shy), elk(surprised a poor mama and her calf), tadpoles(fascinating still, even as an adult), several herd/swarm/gaggles of tiny black frogs(fortunately I was warned about them or I might have just stepped on them before seeing them), one mountain goat (joined me during dinner one evening), and as fall approached, lots of squirrels throwing fir cones down from the tops of trees, getting ready for winter.
The most unexpected and funniest encounter, though, came not from wildlife, but from crossing paths with a trail maintenance team and their horses. Growing up in a big metro area, I’ve never really been around horses much, and admit I may be a bit afraid of them. A group of three people were clearing fallen trees (“blowdowns”) that were blocking the trail. At this point we were all in a wilderness area, so no mechanized equipment was allowed. They had two pack horses and a 5 1/2 foot, two person tree saw. I chatted with the leader for a bit, and he said it took them between 30 minutes to 2 hours to saw through a good sized tree. I don’t think I’d be of much use on that type of trail maintenance crew, I’d be exhausted after a single tree. The two horses, both loaded with packs, took up the entire single-track trail ahead. Not wanting to startle them or get bitten or be on the receiving end of whatever unhappy horses might do unexpectedly, I asked the leader if he had any guidance on getting past. He looked at me for a bit, and then finally, slowly, responded, “Well, you can go over, under, or around them. I recommend around.” They all got a good chuckle, and around I went.
