Tuesday on our guided tour was the first time we really have understood the bear threat. Now don't mistake me - we know the bears are real, and we know we need to be careful, but we have always been in a car or in an area where we felt pretty safe.
That changed at the Russian River.
Because of the intense fishing pressure, the Forest Service has built some lovely wooden boardwalks through the boreal forest. It almost feels like walking in the jungle, there are so many ferns, trees, and plants. At various increments, the boardwalk opens up so that walkers can access the river.
Suddenly, Bob, the guide, stopped and looked around. He explained to us that the wet footprints we were seeing were fresh black bear prints. It was obvious because they came from the leafy area, went down the boardwalk about ten feet and then off into the forest. People don't do that.
About 50 feet further down he saw the same thing, but this time, the prints were much larger - grizzly.
Neither time did we see the bear, but we realized right then that when we are back at the Russian River by ourselves, we won't have Bob and his large revolver that he has strapped over his chest. So we went to the store and bought ourselves some bear spray. We decided a little insurance is not a bad thing!
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