The Yosemite Journals, Chapter Four

Norman pulled the truck up to the Park Ranger kiosk to check into our campground site.   A dry erase board next to the window got our attention.

As did two large photos next to it:

Photo is of black bear in a vehicle with window frame around its upper body, showing the kind of damage bears can do.

Black bear raiding an unsecured cooler at campsite.

That evening a park ranger camp through the campground, advising everyone that a bear had been sighted in the far end of the campground.

She warned us again about keeping food and all scented items (like toothpaste, hand lotion, etc.) secure in the bear boxes.

I was sound asleep later that night when I thought I felt something bump the top of my cot.  There is a pocket sewn into the tent wall where I kept my Kindle, a notepad and pen, and my reading glasses.

Groggy, I tried to figure out what it had been and finally decided my hand must have touched the pouch.  I listened for a while and heard nothing.  All was calm.    I stuffed my earplugs back in and went to sleep.

There were no further disturbances for me that night.

The next morning, Kristy said there had been a bear outside her tent during the night.  She mimicked the asthmatic-like breathing of a bear.  Her tent was right next to mine.

A few minutes later, she said, people a couple hundred feet away were yelling, “Bear!  Bear!  Bear!”  They had neglected to dispose of their trash and the bear scattered it around the campsite.  Had I heard them yelling?

Nope.  Not with earplugs.  Now that slight bump against my tent wall made sense.

 

The next night, about 10 PM, we heard a loud bang, like an explosion.  My first thought was that the propane system of a motorhome had exploded.

Warning sign at Camp Curry parking lot.

We asked around thfollowing day and the consensus was a rock fall, something that is not unusual in this valley.  I was pretty sure that noise had not been a rockfall.

Not until several nights later did we find out what the noise was.  I head the distinct sounds of a shotgun firing some distance away.   A while later, there were two more shots closer to our camp.

A half hour later, two more shots like the explosive noise I’d heard earlier and just as close.  There was no doubt this time.  Park rangers were firing bean bags at a bear that was roaming close to people.

I never did see a bear in Yosemite.  I did, however, see some other wildlife.

Caterpillar

Stellars jay.  These jays seem smaller than Alaskan jays and ours don't have the blue stripes on the head.  Or, not that I've seen.

Stellars jay

A very warm raven.  Birds have no sweat glands, but open their mouths and breath rapidly (pant) to cool off.

This squirrel had dug itself a shallow depression and stretched out full length to cool off.  It tucked in its hind legs when it saw I was going to take its picture.  Squirrel vanity?

Coyote

Coyote in wildflowers.

Mule deer

Nice sentiments, Mr. President, although I maintain that wild beasts and birds are not our "property," and that it is our responsibility to protect them for themselves as well as for future generations.