Close Encounters of the Bear Kind

As part of our Yellowstone excursion, we went to the Slough Creek Campground to walk along a river on the Buffalo Fork Trail. The campsite was closed due to a fire nearby the previous year so we knew our chances of seeing wildlife were much higher. We parked a little down the road and walked into the empty camp site.

Me getting ready for the hike.

When we were almost there, we saw two bison in the middle of the dirt road. You should never approach a wild animal (this should be obvious but people have been hurt by bison in Yellowstone). We decided to take the lower road to make sure we were nowhere near the bison. We went through the site and began our trek along the river.

Bison on the left. This was as close as we dared to get.

The walk was peaceful and beautiful. On the walk up to the campsite, there were signs warning of bears and to be "Bear Aware." We came across a sign of our own: a tree that had been scratched by a bear. We of course, never left the building where we were staying without bear spray. We had two cans with us on the hike as well.

I'd never heard of bear spray before I joined Guardians. I guess it's an extremely potent pepper spray and it's an excellent last resort if you come close to a bear. It can save your life (and subsequently the bear's life as well because if it mauls you, it will be hunted down).

We hiked for a while and decided to head back so we could arrive at the wolf watching point at dusk, when the pups were most likely to emerge. The walk back was uneventful and beautiful. We made it back to the campsite and the bison had completely blocked both ways back to the road. We decided to give them a wide berth and trek through the sage brush.

Being from Kansas, I hadn't seen or touched sagebrush. I was used to walking through fields that require long pants because your legs get scratched. Sagebrush was much easier to walk through and of course, smelled like sage. It was about two or three feet high and I was able to understand how wildlife thrive in it (some of the animals we work to protect rely on sagebrush).

One of my colleagues and I were walking faster and got ahead of the other 4 in our group. As we walked, we heard the group behind us trying to quietly get our attention. We turned around and saw them waving and pointing ahead of us.

We turned back and saw a brown bear appear out of the sagebrush. We froze because it was about 100 feet away. Unsure of whether or not it was a juvenile grizzly, which meant momma would be close behind, we retreated a bit. We found a giant metal box, about four feet high, that campers use to lock up their food from bears, and climbed on top to get a better view.

My expert colleagues determined it was a cinnamon black bear, which is a black bear that happens to be brown. Go figure. We were all relieved that there wasn't a momma bear nearby and quietly and giddily watched as the bear lumbered along.

The bison were still in the road and the bear was ambling straight toward one. Neither the bison nor the bear knew the other was nearby. The bear emerged from the sagebrush, right next to the bison, startling both. In fact, they both jumped when they noticed each other. They stared for a moment and then the bear continued on its walk.

I had an amazing view through my binoculars and was too mesmerized to attempt taking pictures. I took a few once the bear cleared the sagebrush and walked passed the bison. At that point, the bear was walking on the grass on a hill and much more visible.

The bison blocking our road.

The bear on a hill, after its meeting with the bison.

Our close encounter was truly amazing. It's been a year since we saw it, and I'm still amazed when I think about it. To see a wild animal in its natural habitat is like nothing else. Even though the bear didn't do anything "interesting" I considered the entire experience fascinating. It made me wish there were more protected areas for bears like this one to roam freely and meander as they're meant to. It reinforced why I chose this career path and why I will spend my career fighting for native species' rights to exist and thrive in their natural habitat.

After the bear was far out of sight, we headed back to the car (carefully avoiding the bison). We found bear prints further down the road and it made our encounter even more real to see how truly large these creatures are. We couldn't go see the prints from the bear we saw though, because that bison was quite content with not moving.

A little hard to see, but there's a bear print there.

We saw a lot of wildlife from the car that day and the wolf pups through extremely powerful scopes. As the sun was setting, there were bison all over the side of the road and crossing the road. They were so close, I could have reached out of my window and touched them. However, that "close" encounter with the bear was the best part of the day.

Yellowstone Travels

Every year, all of the staff at work get together for a retreat. It's a great opportunity to get face-to-face time with everyone, since we're spread across the west, and work on important organization-wide issues. This year, we went to the BBar Ranch in Montana. It was just north of Yellowstone, which I'd never visited.

We stayed in cabins on the property that were adorable. We were greeted with fresh flowers in the common room and I often took the opportunity to sit on the couch and unwind between sessions or before dinner.

Each cabin was named after an animal and had lanterns to match. I was assigned to the hummingbird cabin. One of my favorite childhood memories is visiting my grandparents at Beaver Lake, Arkansas in the summer. They had hummingbird feeders outside of the windows and my sister and I would watch, mesmerized. Any time I see a hummingbird, I think of those vacations and my grandma.

The leadership team had already been at the ranch for a few days and when we arrived, they told us about bear tracks they'd found just outside of the gates. It was amazing to be so close to where animals could freely roam. We of course, had bear spray with us any time we went outside of the gates of the ranch. Spoiler: we didn't see any bears up close at the ranch.

After dropping off our bags and saying hi to everyone, a few of us grabbed some bear spray and went off to see the tracks. There's a few shots below of the tracks and the group checking out the amazing views from the road.

Bear spray with a view.

Tracks

Comparing the track to a human hand.

We walked up and down the road outside of the ranch in the evenings and during breaks. It was a bit chilly but absolutely beautiful. There was a recent wolf kill in one of the fields, which we visited one evening. We got there the second day after the kill and there was almost nothing left. It was amazing to see how completely nature uses everything after a death.

Yellowstone

One of the afternoons of the staff retreat was reserved for adventuring. Most of us chose to go to Yellowstone and I had a tough decision between hiking or animal watching. Hiking promised great views and possibly an animal sighting or two. Animal watching would mean most of the day in the car going to different areas for the chance to glimpse rare sight, like a wolf. I decided on the animal watching because our Wildlife Director was going to be in the car and I knew I'd be able to learn from her.

There are way too many photos to share, so I've uploaded them to Flickr album here.

A quick synopsis of our adventure was driving around and spotting animals, then we went for a walk along a river, and finally ended at sunset watching wolves and wolf pups far, far in the distance.

It was amazing!! My next post will be details about seeing a bear close up and almost too personal.

My First Month as a Guardian

***I wrote this post a month ago and haven't had a chance to finish and post. Our office has moved so I'll include that update later!**

My first week was a whirlwind and I was glad when I got back home from New Mexico. The Portland office is in the Industrial District, or so I'm told that's what it's called. My commute is just over an hour but it's only a 10 minute drive to the MAX station. I listen to podcasts on my commute and play logic puzzles on the way back. I don't do them on my way to work because I'm not awake enough in the mornings. The logic puzzles make the commute fly by and I even missed my stop when I took a new bus because I was so absorbed in the puzzle.

The Portland office is tiny and we got it when there were only two staff in the city. I joined as the fourth person in our office and we just barely fit. We just added a fifth member to the Portland staff and we're now searching for a new, bigger office while she works remotely. Here is our current office, with four desks squeezed in.

View from the hall

View from my desk

My desk

On Cinco De Mayo, we had a fundraiser in Denver. I was too new to help with much of the prep but I joined and helped with checkout. I also took pictures for social media. The best part of this fundraiser: raptors!! No not those raptors. Birds of prey are calls raptors. Owls are my favorite bird and of those, barn owls are my favorite.

My new best friend

There was also a falcon, an eagle, and a hawk. The eagle wore a hood because she was found blind in one eye. The volunteer told us that when they're learning to fly, they can accidentally run into a branch and blind themselves in that eye. They think that could be what happened to her. She was wearing a hood, because her reduced eyesight made her more likely to be nervous and by covering their eyes, the raptors are more calm. She had an interesting habit of scanning her head like a type writer when the hood was on. The volunteer told us that was because without her eyesight, she was scanning to locate sounds. By moving her head, she could triangulate where the sound was coming from by comparing what she received in each ear. It was a very informational couple of minutes for me!

We also had live music outside, an open bar, and stations where staff could talk about our work with the guests. There was a small silent auction and a raffle as well. Another volunteer group performed visual arts during the reception. A man and a woman, dressed as trash collectors, did floor acrobatics, for lack of a better description. He would lay on his back and hold her with his foot, while she contorted her body. They also had a woman dressed as a mermaid trapped by trash. That was more of a social statement than performance.

I was only in Denver for the afternoon before, day of, and morning after the fundraiser. I was able to walk around downtown for a bit and take in some of the city. We checked in during May the Fourth, sn unofficial Star Wars holiday (May the fourth be with you). The hotel lobby had Star Wars art but they said it was for some exhibit in town. When we walked around that evening, there were people in Star Wars costumes all over celebrating the pseudo-holiday

My dad has one of the R2D2 Pepsi coolers!

The morning of the fundraiser, my colleague and I were walking to breakfast and saw the trees had turned blue. No seriously, they were blue. It was obvious that they'd been painted but we couldn't fathom why. I sent a picture to Brandt and in true Brandt fashion, he looked up why. He sent me an article explaining it was part of a public art project in Denver's Theater District. The artist painted them with chalk-paint, which is temporary and non-toxic, to highlight their vital role in our environment. I thought that was fitting since we were in town!

Santa Fe

I spent my first week with WildEarth Guardians in Santa Fe, where the main office is located. I got to know some of my colleagues and had a week-long immersion into my new job. I was working most of the time and didn't take many pictures. I did love the Santa Fe water though; my hair looked fabulous without any frizz.

All of the buildings around downtown were adobe and I think it's a pattern that continues throughout the city. I got a shuttle ride one morning and was told there's a requirement to build with adobe in the historic parts of town or at least cover the buildings so the facade looks adobe.

The hotel I stayed in had a very Santa Fe look. The bedspread really tied the room together. The southwest theme was all over town and a little too "in my face." I don't think I could live there but I enjoyed it for the week.

One thing I loved, was when I was looking for souvenirs, I came across something that reminded me of my grandparents. My paternal grandfather loved the southwest and the people who traditionally lived there. They traveled a lot and I remember their home being filled with art and artifacts from the region. While I was in a fabulous souvenir store, I came across a display with Storytellers. I was immediately transported back to my grandparents' home and the hours I spent there as a child. I used to make up stories in my mind about what these women were telling the children. I did a bit of research and these came around in the 1960s.
They are now very popular:

As time went on, more and more artists started making their own storyteller dolls, each adapting their own unique style and implementing their own beliefs based on their heritage. Today, the term storyteller refers to any human or animal figure that is covered with smaller children or animals. They have become one of the most collectible and sought after forms of clay art.  - PuebloDirect.com

It snowed my first morning in town, which was odd to see in the desert. That evening, I was offered the opportunity to hear a talk by our River Program Director and jumped in. We drove up to the hills and it was beautiful to see the snow speckled hills and spots of green trees.

Never having been to New Mexico, I was surprised at the amount of green. It's mostly the trees but there was more than I expected. I soaked up the sun on my lunches and realized how much I've truly missed vitamin D. Portland winters seem to be getting longer and drearier with each year we live here. Santa Fe was a nice respite from the gray of the Pacific NW.

I explored the foods of Santa Fe for lunches and dinners. I normally eat out once a week or less, so it was a lot of rich food. I was glad to have Brandt's home cooking when I got back. All of the places I went were great but the one worth taking a picture was a little place near the office. I got a lamb burger (going out of my comfort zone) and it was locally raised lamb, house-made English muffin, house-made ketchup, and duck fat fries. It was great! I'm a ketchup-aholic and didn't care for the house-made ketchup at all. The fries made with duck fat were great but I didn't like the reminder that I was eating duck fat. They were so delicious that it wasn't hard to eat them though. The presentation was great too!

The airport was super tiny, and adorable. It was a nice throwback to when TSA didn't destroy our lives and make us wish shoe bombers, underwear bombers, and the like, still didn't exist. I was able to show up an hour before my flight, check in right away, and then I got to play on my new work laptop.

Santa Fe doesn't have any flights directly to Portland (and vice versa) so I had a layover in Denver. I was impressed with the plane back to PDX. They had screens that folded out and had our safety instructions. They also played a TV show, but it was with Steve Harvey and he's a little hard to watch because I think he's always over-acting. I'll watch Family Feud all day because I'm awesome at guessing the answers but anything else with him, I avoid. I was able to plug in my headphones and switch to various "radio" stations and get in a good nap.

To end my story of my first week at Guardians, I want to circle back to my first day. We went to a taste test for the Gala, which will take place in October. My allergies had come back due to the temperature change and one of the staff brought me a sinus-cleansing tea. Each tea bag has something on the paper on the end. Mine is worth sharing and perfect metaphor for my new job.

Making My Dream a Reality

As far back as I can remember, I've always been passionate about animals and nature. I spent summers outdoors and loved playing in the creeks that wind through Cowley County. I wasn't afraid to climb a tree in a dress or pick up a toad I found in the garden. I loved getting dirty and still do.

I've always gone out of my way to recycle and I've been hounding Brandt to use reusable bags (we're almost there!). A primary reason for moving to Oregon was my desire to live in a place that values the environment as much as I do and hopefully get a job working to save the natural world. In April, I finally made that dream a reality and joined WildEarth Guardians as their Membership Manager.

Guardians' mission is protect and restore wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and the health of the American West. We believe in respecting and valuing nature, which has always been my personal belief. We focus on protecting public lands and rivers as well as the wildlife that live on them. We're fighting to keep national monuments public and prevent any more oil and gas leases on public land. We're passionate about the Rio Grande's right to its own water and fighting to keep it from drying up, as it does every year due to over consumption. We're currently fighting Colorado Parks and Wildlife's new policy to kill bears and mountain lions in a "study" to see how it affects mule deer populations. They're shooting the carnivores from helicopters, using bear traps, chasing them down with hounds, and poisoning them. Not only is this inhumanely killing the bears and mountain lions but it's not truly a study because they don't know how many are living in the wild and there's science showing the mule deer aren't repopulating as fast as CPW would like due to loss of habitat, not predation. The kicker is that citizens have come out in force against this plan and CPW has gone ahead any way.

We have offices based across the West and some people who work from home if they don't live near an office. Our staff retreat a few weeks ago offered me my first opportunity to meet everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting my colleagues and learning about our programs. I'm proud to join an organization of people who are as passionate about saving our natural world as much as I am. They're intelligent, strong-willed, and will do what it takes to speak for the wildlife across the west and their habitats.

We speak for the voiceless and I've wanted to dedicate my life to restoring and saving nature before humanity completely destroys it. This job gives me the opportunity to dedicate my career to that which I am most passionate. I am truly looking forward to standing up for the native species, rivers, and lands in the West.

Enjoying a Rainy, Green Portland

We dropped off our parents for their flight and the little sister and I headed to Cathedral Park under the St. John's Bridge. This was one spot that my sister had heard of and insisted we go. There isn't much to the park itself but the bridge and the foggy hills behind it were a perfect example of the rainy beauty that is Portland.

We decided to get out of the drizzle and head to Powell's Books. I absolutely love that place (two buildings with floors and floors of books). We spent more than an hour browning the isles of books and shelves with funny, nerdy things on them. I got a Cthulu shirt and a collection of HP Lovecraft's works. It felt appropriate with it being October, and all.

While we were at Powell's it was PACKED. It turns out that Bruce Springsteen was there signing his new book. We joked that Springsteen ruined my sister's first trip to Powell's because we couldn't get to one of the floors and that line wrapped throughout the building. We were able to squeeze through people to get to the shelves we wanted to see but I'm going to take her back on her next visit so we can meander more.

Our next stop was the Lan Su Chinese Garden. I've driven by before and it looked minuscule compared to other attractions I've seen. I didn't have high hopes but I was completely wrong. It ended up being my favorite place we visited while my family was in town. Every single angle was meticulously thought out and equally as beautiful. I imagine that every time I go back I'll see something new. Below are just a sampling of the dozens of pictures I took. Truly beautiful.

This is made from string!

This wonderful gentleman from
Wisdom Arts Academy made us
Chinese calligraphy symbols. He
made it look effortless!

After the garden we were hungry and walked over to a restaurant with pho. I've heard a lot about it but I don't like to try new food without someone who's had it before to make recommendations. My sister has had pho before and we ventured into the tiny restaurant. It was good (and a lot of food to eat at once!) and I enjoyed the artwork on the wall.

We rushed through our deceptively gigantic lunch to make it to the train station. My sister's vacation wasn't quite over and she was on her way up to Seattle. We said our goodbyes and I went home to catch up on sleep.