I've woken to bears, raccoons, skunks and unidentified sniffing around the tent. My parents have a classic story of camping in the Sierras in the 60, waking to a cast iron pan scoured down to the iron (seasoning removed a la bear tongue) and bearprints all around.
Gunn: The final score can't be rigged. I don't care how many players you grease, that last shot always comes up a question mark. But here's the thing. You never know when you're taking it. It could be when you're duking it out with the Legion of Doom, or just crossing the street deciding where to have brunch. So you just treat it like it was up to you—the world in balance—'cause you never know when it is.
'Underneath'
Natter 68: Bork Bork Bork
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
sarameg - Jul 13, 2011 5:49:03 pm PDT #16600 of 30001
dcp - Jul 13, 2011 5:52:05 pm PDT #16601 of 30001
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
going to Yellowstone imminently
Make the most of it! I got to visit there for a couple of days in the late summer of 2008. I enjoyed it immensely, but it wasn't enough time.
Nora Deirdre - Jul 13, 2011 5:56:35 pm PDT #16602 of 30001
I’m responsible for my own happiness? I can’t even be responsible for my own breakfast! (Bojack Horseman)
THIS IS WHY I DO NOT CAMP.
megan walker - Jul 13, 2011 6:01:06 pm PDT #16603 of 30001
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Make the most of it!
I intend to! It's my Christmas present from my sister--2 to 10 days in one or more National Parks in the lower 48. I chose Yellowstone/Grand Teton for a week since she hadn't been to either. I went to Yellowstone about 20 years ago on a trip through Montana and Wyoming with my Dad, but we didn't go into Grand Teton even though we went to Jackson Hole (my dad wasn't a hiker).
javachik - Jul 13, 2011 6:20:41 pm PDT #16604 of 30001
Our wings are not tired.
I totally want to go to Yellowstone.
I've had tons of experience with California brown bears, but of course none with a Grizzly.
When I worked at an assisted living complex (for seniors) in the 1990s, the daughter of one of our residents, was this woman: [link]
She was awesome. She visited all the time. She told me that the only thing she really, really resented was never being able to feel her baby's skin with her fingertips. Oh, and someone gave her child a teddy bear. That went right into the trash. She laughed when she told me that.
§ ita § - Jul 13, 2011 6:21:23 pm PDT #16605 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
When we were camping in the Moroccan anti-atlas we were incredibly careless with the cleanliness of our campsite and left dirty dishes outside the tent. Something sizeable went through them while we were zipped up inside there, and to this day we haven't been able to work out what lived in the territory that was that big and noisy.
I don't camp anymore. Maybe I should stop going to bed too.
Consuela - Jul 13, 2011 6:34:56 pm PDT #16606 of 30001
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
My brother got married in Jackson Hole a few years back (okay, six), and we went hiking in the Grand Teton a bit while we were there. No bears, but we did see some moose. It was cool. So beautiful, that country.
Kat - Jul 13, 2011 6:42:31 pm PDT #16607 of 30001
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
So beautiful, that country.
Agreed. My dad and brother often camped and fished (last year, dad had a heart incident that had him in the Jackson Hole hospital ICU for a bit while camping) there. One year, I joined them and my mom (reluctant camper). While they were fishing, I came across a moose and was super excited. My dad? "Yeah. There are a lot of them. Want some fish?"
My dad = not impressed with charismatic megafauna.
That was the same year that my brother and SIL saw a bear print in the river bed. To illustrate the differences between me and my family, my brother went back and got a gun and went back to the river. I went to get plaster of paris so I could make a bear print impression.
Cashmere - Jul 13, 2011 6:56:25 pm PDT #16608 of 30001
Now tagless for your comfort.
We've had two black bear sightings here in town this summer--one at a park by the river and one near our house--another park.
Not to big--between 300-400lbs but not cubs, either. As long as they keep moving, they're ok. But if they decide to stop, the get tranqed and relocated.
Liese S. - Jul 13, 2011 7:01:23 pm PDT #16609 of 30001
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."
Someone got mauled by a bear in my hometown last month, walking her dog by a dumpster the bear was rummaging through. She's still in critical care. Don't think the dog survived.
Bears. America's #1 threat.
I wore red and black today in pure defiance. But I'm a rebel like that. I also wear lots of harvest tones I know don't work on me, but it's not my fault, because damn technical clothing never comes in sapphire blues. Manufacturers believe that if I'm outdoorsy, I must also be an autumn.