Black Bear

Thirteen Years ago I went on a two day hike with my father to Deer Lake in the Olympic National Forest, in the great state of Washington. On the first day of the hike we traveled approximately eight miles with an elevation change of around 1700 feet. On our arrival we spent the afternoon fishing and enjoying the meadow. The following day on our return hike down the mountain we encountered a black bear. We were both stopped dead in our tracks as we rounded the switchback to find the beautiful, peaceful, powerful animal sitting silently in the center of the trail on the sheer cliffside. We stood in silence, the three of us, sharing the the space, myself frozen with a mixture of fear, curiosity and respect. The beast on all fours observing, in a state if disinterest secure in his standing as the uncontested power in the landscape. This stalemate or shared experienced lasted in this perfect moment for minutes or hours or seconds. Until as suddenly as we stumbled into his presence he decided to leave us and ascended up the sheer cliffside, never to be seen by my eyes again.