Dean met me in Burlington and we headed up to Highway 542 on a beautiful crisp fall day to hike to Yellow Aster Butte. The trail is muddy in a few places especially after the morning thaw but overall still in good shape. There had been a dusting of new snow in the higher elevations and some of the smaller tarns had a thin coat of ice which was mostly gone by afternoon. The fall colors are on the fade but it was still beautiful.
We spotted a black bear running all out across a basin where the trail crosses a small creek coming from a year around snow field about 2 miles into the hike. (see pic of basin below) When he turned and headed straight up slope a shot rang out and we understood why he was on the move. It appeared the shot missed as the bear never broke stride and made it into the trees.
This was my fifth black bear sighting while hiking in the Cascades but I had never seen one running full speed up a steep slope. No human could have matched this creature's speed and grace on this course. (I couldn't even get the camera out before he was gone.)
Comments