Day: July 10, 2017

Pic: “What do you do with your wet gear when you stay in a hotel?” –Mom. Best Western Clocktower Inn, Billings, MT

Pic: Saturday vs Sunday. Quinnebaugh Meadows, Custer Gallatin NF, MT. Larger image

I awoke early from a night of fitful rest. “OMG so much rain,” my notes read. “Worst storm I’ve slept in since Walker Lake, maybe since ever.” It wasn’t raining now, though, and I had to pee.

Bleary-eyed and shivering in the damp chill of morning on the meadow, I crawled out of the tent. I reached for the fly of my thermals, scanning the area to make sure I wouldn’t shock an unlucky onlooker, but froze when I spotted a fuzzy black blob.

I dove back into the tent for my glasses, phone (camera), and bear spray. I re-emerged to see a bear fifty yards away, presumably the one from the other day, ripping up grass in search of tasty grubs.

My phone was too cold and low-batteried to boot so, alas, no new pixelated photos. I got a better view of the critter this time — no hump, prominent ears, must be a black bear — but the encounter again ended quickly when the bear took a step in my direction and my park service-fueled paranoia kicked in: “HEY BEAR! I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO LEAVE!” (At least I was more polite this time.) The bear dutifully sniffed in my direction then hurried along.

The burst of adrenaline — woohoo! my second bear! — and obviously-impending inclement weather made going back to bed impossible. I set aside some mixed nuts and a foil pack of pop tarts (the breakfast of backpacking champions) and broke camp, saving the tent for last in case I wanted shelter from another burst of rain. The very instant I had the rainfly stowed (I mean, it was uncanny), the hail started.

Pic:It’s a tarp! Quinnebaugh Meadows, Custer Gallatin NF, MT

I hid in a stand of trees, munched on breakfast, and waited for a pause in the precipitation. It slowed to a drizzle for a bit — good enough, I suppose — but did not relent during the five miles back to the car. After two bear sightings, a pristine alpine lake, and my first close-up views of the Beartooths, I wasn’t even mad.