Folks probably want to hear the bear story first. In the first mile of the first day I was warned by some day hikers that there was a bear with a cub ahead. The black bears of the Olympics tend to be very unconcerned with people but I still try give them plenty of space. This bear was cruising alongside the trail gobbling the alpine blueberries. I stopped and talked to her for a while until she moved upslope away from the trail. I don't think she ever looked directly at me. Never saw the cub.

Then there was this doofus of a buck licking the dust off people's cars. Why?!?

Folks probably want to hear the bear story first. In the first mile of the first day I was warned by some day hikers that there was a bear with a cub ahead. The black bears of the Olympics tend to be very unconcerned with people but I still try give them plenty of space. This bear was cruising alongside the trail gobbling the alpine blueberries. I stopped and talked to her for a while until she moved upslope away from the trail. I don't think she ever looked directly at me. Never saw the cub.

Then there was this doofus of a buck licking the dust off people's cars. Why?!?