Yep, bears in the Gorge

[Double Tree]

My 2nd bear sighting occurred this morning about 8:15. I set off at 6:00 a.m. for a 12-mile hike from Angels Rest to the Larch-Mult trail junction and back. I had just passed the easterly-most Foxglove Trail junction, over the half-log bridge, and between there and the next small red-rock creek, I heard rustling very close by. I looked up the slope, expecting the slim bounding figure of a deer, when I realized what I saw maybe 20 feet up the hill was black, furry, small, and round, heading uphill quickly. Wow!

The rest of the hike was uneventful. The foliage was lush, salmon-berries are ripening, birds were singing, and got it progressively warmer all morning. I was glad to be done at 12:30, before the worst of the heat. Critter count: 1 taninger at the Angels Rest trailhead, 2 snails that I carefully removed from the middle of the trail, one Anna's hummingbird, and ONE BEAR!

Kelly

[tomoforegon]

So get up early if you want to see 'um!

[Splintercat]

...or be carrying a pic-a-nic basket...

- Mr. Ranger, Sir

[Peabody]

...or be carrying a pic-a-nic basket...

- Mr. Ranger, Sir

......and have you ever wondered what kind of parent would name their kid Boo-Boo?

[joerunner]

I ran into a bear in that area a couple years back. Must be a den near by.

[Double Tree]

Bear-sighting number 4 for me, yesterday . Probably only a 1/2 mile from my 2013 sighting, I saw a bear yesterday, in an open rock slide area above trail 400 east of the Angels Rest/Foxglove intersection. A small black bear, clearly uninterested in me as it was high-tailing it outa there. I could hear it even after it disappeared from sight. Again, I was too slow with the camera.
Kelly

[Double Tree]

I hiked from Wahkeena, to Devil's Rest, down Foxglove toward Angel's Rest, and back to Wahkeena. Salmon berries are all over Foxglove, tiger lilies are near peak, and there are red huckleberries to be found in spots. Early!
Kelly

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I'm pretty sure I saw bear tracks in the snow last year (either November or December, can't remember which) descending from Nick Eaton Ridge on the Casey Creek Trail.

[wexcellent]

Years ago I saw a small black bear cross the road just after dusk while driving up to Crown Point from the East.

[adamschneider]

I visited Spirit Falls last Monday (along the Cook-Underwood Road on the WA side), and some people coming back up to the road right when I got there said they'd just seen a black bear at the bottom edge of the big talus slope. They showed me their iPhone photo of it; it looked young, but not a cub.

Sadly, I didn't see any wildlife on my trek to and from the falls.