Camping in Bear Country

The big camping trip is over and we are back home. We had to return a little early because it was raining like crazy, and it is no fun to hike in the rain! Regardless of our early return and the rain we had a fantastic time!

The trip started with BEARS! So there we were, driving into the National Park and we saw our first black bear. He was running across the road and then disappeared into the bushes. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. We went about our way, picked our campsite, set up our tent, and then set out for a quick little four mile hike to see a waterfall. On the way out we saw our second bear. He was poking around in the bushes and on the trail, but ran away when he heard/saw us coming. (i like to be really loud while hiking near black bears, because I don't want startle them into eating me!) He didn't run far though, just into the bushes, where he stopped and stared at us. I took the dogs and walked on down the trail while the Husband, with the baby on his back, stood and took photos.


Compared to the bears, the waterfall was not the highlight of the hike and on the way back up to the campsite, we saw TWO more bears. These guys were big, and went farther up into the bushes when they saw us, so no photos. The dogs smelled them and went all crazy, sniffing up their trail. THEN, as we hiked the rest of the way, we saw two deer and a turkey.

That was the extent of our animal spotting, but not the extent of the fun. :) When we got back from the hike, the skies opened up and we had to take refuge in our tent while it stormed like crazy. Our tent is a two-man tent, not exactly comfortable when you put two adults (one with long legs), two dogs, and one wild and crazy little monster. It rained for over an hour and we were all itching to get outside. During these storms, the tent was renamed, the Dutch Oven, for reasons I will leave up to your imagination!
The Dutch Oven
The rain stopped long enough cook supper, then we had to get back into the dreaded Dutch Oven tent again. Except for the puppy bean who insisted on sleeping in the truck. It rained off and on all night, with us spending most of the time in the tent or chasing the monster who kept running down the road and inviting herself into other people's campsites! The puppy bean eventually rejoined the group because he was cold, and spent the evening inching closer and closer to us in order to get warm.
The Little Bean was super interested in helping the Daddy build the fire.
For their first tent camping trip, the Pup and the Baby did wonderfully!
The Beans used the Daddy as a pillow during our long stay in the tent.
This is where the puppy bean slept during some of the storms.