A walk in the park until...BEARS!

Because I got to bed so late last night...1:00 am...I hit the road later than I wanted to. I had a 2 1/2 hour drive to my destination of the day, Lassen Volcanic National Park. Negotiating the windy CA Hwy 32, then the Warner Valley gravel road in the park was a bit time consuming. But, once I was there, any existing worries fell away...at least at first. My plan was to hike to Devil's Kitchen, but I didn't think I had the time to do it justice, so I opted for the shorter Boiling Springs Lake Trail instead. Little did I know, my choice would prove to be the more exciting one.

The first part of the trail had a series of wooden boardwalks through meadowlands, changing over to dirt trails and forest. It was so peaceful and picturesque.

As I walked, I constantly scanned my surroundings, looking for photo opportunities. I especially keep my eye out for animals of all kinds...I like taking pictures of critters! Suddenly, I noticed some movement among the trees ahead of me...BEAR! TWO BEARS! A momma black bear and her cub were ambling along about 50 yards ahead of me! Now, I didn't have any bear spray with me, not that I needed it at the moment. I quietly backtracked down the trail and took some video, waiting for them to walk away from my position. Here are a couple of screen grabs of the momma...with her red-brown fur, she's also known as a cinnamon bear.

That's the first time I've ever seen a black bear with a cub. Too bad I didn't get any video or pics of the cub...I was too excited and cautious of attracting unwanted attention. After thinking they moved away from me, I continued walking up the trail...only to see them again exactly where I wanted to go! I then had the idea of making my presence known. Walking on dry branches, they made loud, snapping sounds. The momma bear quickly looked in my direction...and ran away with her cub close behind her! Well, that worked like a charm! When I finally reached Boiling Springs Lake, I got some cool pics of its geothermal features.

There were redwood trees scattered among the Douglas firs and cedars. I always like to bond with the ancient giants. The lichens seemed to enjoy growing on the trees in this forest. As I glanced up, the skies seemed so blue! As I glanced down, the Douglas squirrel seemed so...squirrelly!

During my return trip to the trail head, I encountered some people walking in the opposite direction. I warned them to keep their eyes open for bears. I'll have to return to Lassen in the future to check out Devil's Kitchen...and maybe see more bears?