Warning sign for bears & lions

We’d seen the signs on the trailheads during the week warning us that bears and mountain lions lived in the park. Below the safety tips is the list of what to do IF you see one. We had been carefully following the tips in hopes that the list wouldn’t be needed. When we came across their scat on a trail, I would breathe deeply and reassure myself that it wasn’t fresh. But our luck nearly ran out  on the Lost Mine Trail.

The morning was warm and clear, a perfect day to hike. We had visited briefly with a group of college girls who passed us on the trail. We could occasionally hear their voices and soft laughter ahead of us. Suddenly, one of them called out to us in a loud voice, “Are you still on the trail? There is a bear headed right toward you.” Oh, my gosh. My hands get clammy just typing those words. Even better, Ken was ahead of me and had already turned around the bend where I couldn’t see him. My heart started to pound and I could feel the adrenaline and cortisol pulsing through my arms all the way to my fingers. You’re not by a cliff, I told myself. Slow, deep breath. That bear doesn’t want to see you any more than you want to see him. The brush beneath the trees to my right began to rustle. Oh, God, why did I think I wanted to hike today? Think, think. Are there any rocks to throw as I stand tall and yell. WHERE IS KEN???

I quickened my pace to round the bend where I hoped Ken was, kicking rocks and yelling to the bear, “I’m on the path. I don’t want to see you. You don’t want to see me. Leave me alone!” I admit that tears sprang into my eyes when I caught up with Ken and realized he had hurried ahead to try to draw the bear’s attention away from me. We could hear the bushes below us begin to rustle as the bear moved away from us, on down the mountain.

That bear served as a potent reminder that we hikers are uninvited guests in the animals’ home. Although the experience frightened me, it will not keep me from going back and hiking Big Bend’s trails again. If you ever have a chance to visit Big Bend, the Lost Mine trail rewards hikers with amazing views all along the way, and once you make it all up to the ridge where the mountain flattens out, you’re rewarded with beautiful views of Pine Canyon and the Sierra del Carmen in Mexico. The view this time was even sweeter, as I looked with new appreciation at the wild vista spreading out all around me.

(For more pictures and information about this amazing national park, click on the following link:  Big Bend National Park Website)

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