Alaska.... To be continued???

Did you wonder where that came in?

One of the best parts of the trip was the absolute scariest.

We pulled into that campground. There was not a soul there. After the busy campground we had just come from in Denali made it seem strange and obscure. It was foreign. It had been a long night and we were ready to call it. Thing is, there was ONE campsite occupied. The host site. Strangely enough. Meaning we had to deposit payment at the front gate. So, we drove around the endless possibilities of sites checking for left-over wood so we could warm up and cook dinner around it. Even though it was who-knows-what hour. We gathered up enough to decide to stay. We were going to stay anyhow because we were way too tired. That being said, what we did was park the car and walk around different sites. We would split up and each check different campsites for the leftover wood. We did that several times. When we were satisfied, we got into the car, took a direct right turn and not before long we drove straight at a big 800 pound black bear.

Not a big deal right? Wrong. Not 3 minutes prior, we had been searching for leftover campsite wood not 100 feet from this beast. Alone. Yes, alone. When I said we split up and searched individual sites alone, I meant it. I rested the car to a stop and the both of us without even looking at each other knew.

"Holy Shit."

We drove down to the deposit box and I threw the cash in as quickly as I could while I looked over my shoulder the whole time. (The box was down in the direction we scared the bear into, and he didn't seem all that frightened one bit).

An hour later, just as we are getting relaxed and feeling comfortable, we hear the stalking of a large animal around us. It was obvious to us what was going on. This bear was familiar with the campground and its usual givings via human disregard. It was looking for the food it was used to left over here.

We yelled and made many noises.

The night passed, and without incident. But we heard that large noise several times and had to shout.

The next day, Steve noticed a large print on the passenger side of the windshield. It is questionable what it could be, but he was certain it was a bear print. I was the first to discount that theory, but I can't say he was wrong.