Close encounter of the Ursus kind.

So, today I take off to the Cohutta Wilderness to do some exploring. I was introduced to the Cohutta last year, and have a strong desire to explore more of it. Today's route was a route I had never taken, and it was the first long hike for me of the season.

I have never seen a black bear in the wild. Since starting to explore the Cohutta last year, I have seem lots of bear spoor, but not the bear that left it.

Today, I parked at Three Forks Mountain. My planned trek was to hike along East Cowpen trail to Panther Creek trail. I was going to stop at Panther Creek Falls, eat lunch, and return along the same route.

Off I went. I had just gotten my pack comfortable, and found a good stride; when less than 1/4 mile in, I saw the first pile of bear spoor...and it was fresh!!! I have seen spoor before, and not seen the bear, so I was trying to not get my hopes up too bad, but I was optimistic. I know you are not supposed to sneak up on bears...they can be quite dangerous, but if I was going to see one, it was time to shift into stealth mode. Bear hearing and eyesight are no better than ours really. It is their sense of smell that gives them the edge. As luck would have it, their was a nice breeze, and it was in my face...my scent was being blown behind me :-)Off I went creeping up the trail as quite as I could be.

No more than a couple of hundred yards or so along the trail, I came to the point where Rough Ridge/Jacks River trails intersect. I stopped to mark the point in my GPS. I was facing the new trail, and had my back to East Cowpen. I was typing the name in for the waypoint, when I heard a critter behind me. I have spent a LOT of time in the woods. I know what small critters, and big critters sound like. What I heard, I thought to be a rabbit, or perhaps a chipmunk. I finished saving the waypoint, and turned to enjoy the critter's company. When I turned, no more than 20' away was a black bear. It was an adolescent...not as small as a cub, but certainly not full grown. It saw me about the same time I saw it. It turned and ran away with great rapidity! What amazed me was just how quiet it was! It was in a running stride, and barely made a sound!

I was geeking out! I could have turned around and come home right then, and it would have been a worthwhile trip, but I carried on up the trail.

I was not in stealth mode anymore. I was looking to make some time, because there were some other nooks and crannies I wanted to explore if I had daylight enough left. I went on about another 200-300 yards, and started hearing a squirrel up in an oak tree about 40' away from me. I have seen so many grey squirrels that I pay them no attention any more, but I was intrigued by the possibility of seeing a fox squirrel. I stopped, and started looking up in the tree. At once I noticed that the tree top was shaking more than it should have been in the light breeze. I moved up the trail a bit further, then I saw it! Another bear, this one was a full grown adult, in the top of an oak tree eating acorns! It would reach out and bend an entire limb toward itself, and strip the acorns (and leaves, and branches) off of it then let it go. I fumbled for my phone to get video. I captured video, but I was shooting into the sun, and there is no manual focus. Basically, the shot sucks...kinda like someone showing a big foot video.

The bear looked right at me 2 or 3 times, but kept happily munching away. I grew frustrated with the phone and put it away. I stood watching a bit longer...then, it happened! It looked at me, and stopped what it was doing! One foot came down the tree, and that was my signal to get up and go!

The remainder of my hike was relatively uneventful. I know bears to be fairly territorial, so I knew there was a chance I may see one or both of them again on the way out.

As I approached the area, I started making noise on purpose. I now had the wind to my back, so my scent was blowing dead ahead of me as a warning. I was almost back to the intersection with Jack's River/Rough Ridge trail, when I heard commotion down the hill to my left. I looked over, and there were two bears, one large, and one smaller, running more or less away from me. I do believe them to be the same two, but could never swear to it. They were running away, so they were no threat, and I marched along my merry little way. As I went, I could still hear them (they were not nearly as quiet as they had been earlier), and it sounded like they were circling back around me! Now THAT got my attention. I turned around, and about 300 yards or so up the trail, they had popped out onto the trail, and were watching me! I turned my whole body around and walked backwards (never turn your back on a bear). They stayed put, and when I lost sight of them beyond a hill, I turned back around and double timed it to the truck!

It was a good day!