Hiked in to the Cluff Dairy site, saw apple and peach trees, grape vines, and various foundations. Continued on to the bottom of Twilight Creek, found the sawmill site, then sat down on a shady boulder for lunch. While eating my sandwich, I noticed a black shape moving through the trees which I thought was a large dog. Oh $#*@, that's a bear! And he's only 75 feet from me It amazed me that he was able to walk so quietly through the woods. I jingled my bear bell to let him know that there were people around. Unconcerned, the bear stopped to watch us. Then I stood up and called to the bear. He still did nothing. I got out my camera, and despite my dead battery, I was able to squeeze off two shots of the bear. Then I tryed to scare him off by smashing two rocks together, but he still didn't leave. This bear was definitely not afraid of us! Maybe we should go, I said to Kevin. And so we did, while watching our backs, to make sure the bear wasn't following us.
The bear encounter made me a little nervous at the time, but it was a pretty cool and unforgetable experience! It was definitely the highlight of my day.