Wanderers in Wonder

8/27/2020

In the glorious Teton Country…relatively clear skies although California is starting to intrude.Teton peaks in Tree Pose Asana joined hands striving for the heavens treeless…sharp naked beauty

Or maybe I am just thinking of my gurus Cathy and Kay-Lea trying to get me to stretch out my spine. For you geography buffs, the Organ Mountains of Southern New Mexico are often referred to as the Tetons of the South.

We are off on a four plus mile hike partly around Jenny Lake. Jenny’s waters are deep blue in the distance. From shore they are clear. You can see the bottom of the lake in five-foot of water.

We come to a roaring cascade of water. The water’s power is intense. One can feel it…moving, eroding, changing.

We continue on listening to Jenny’s waves gently lapping the shore, looking across Jenny’s pristine waters, gazing skyward at the majestic mountains…and, Buddy Bear, not fifteen feet in front of me is a large healthy black bear. He is slowly making his way down the trail towards me sniffing left, sniffing right, completely ignoring my presence…not a care in the world. Wish I could say the same.

I slowly back pedal tell, Mary Ann to get up on a large boulder just off the trail and get out the Bear Spray and the Air Horn. We are reluctant to startle him. He is so very close. We may not have a choice.

There is a couple about twenty feet behind us I hold up my hand warning them to stay back. They hold up their hands in a ‘what the heck’ display. I give them tree emphatic stop signals. 

By this time Buddy Bear is not four feet from where Mary Ann and I are perched on our boulder. Buddy looks up at us and to our great relief takes off into the brush away from us. Of course Buddy immediately circles back to the comfort of the trail putting himself about six feet from the couple following us. They make a late scramble off trail suffering some scrapes and bruises along the way.

Buddy Bear ambles off  for a swim.