Before heading north toward Philadelphia and our long awaited Mark Knopfler concert we kicked back and relaxed for a few days in the Shenandoah National Park.
One more AT story that will go down in our history books as the most interesting bear encounter ever. The day before ending our AT hike we were hiking along a ridge with thunder clapping in the distance. As I try to do on a regular basis, I tapped my sticks together and cleared my throat to let any unsuspecting bear know that we were in the area. Well, this time I guess that backfired as I scared a bear about 40 feet up in the tree so much that it had a controlled fall to the ground about 10 feet in front of me. It landed with a thud on its back and immediately bounced to its feet and lumbered away. All this happened so fast that we did not have any time to be scared. After he was gone, the goose bumps appeared on my arms and I had to laugh aloud at what had just happened. I was carrying bear spray today for some reason but did not even think of reaching for it?
Another instance where you were facing the
“bear” facts.