Smokey the Bear

Smokey is a little black bear that has been hanging around Coal Creek Camp all summer. He is around 2 years old and 200 lbs. In bear terms, he is a teenager trying to figure out where he belongs in this world. We've tried our best to assure him he does not belong at Coal Creek Camp, but he doesn't seem to be getting the message.

Coal Creek Camp is an old mining camp from those 'halcyon' days of gold mining. When trees, plants, and top soil were blasted from the ground by high pressure water hoses. And then the ground was devoured, all the way down to bedrock, by a giant dredge. Out the other end of the dredge came a stack of essentially sterile sand and gravel. But I digress. Today, Coal Creek Camp is home to many different 'ologists' and their research teams that study all things terra, flora, and fauna in the preserve.

To get back on point, I have seen Smokey several times this summer. The first time I was riding my bike back to Slaven's Roadhouse (where I'm stationed this summer) four miles downstream from Coal Creek Camp. I had just experienced a Solstice party in Alaska, and it put every Fourth of July celebration I've ever attended to shame. Anyways, Smokey heard my bike rattling down the trail, and darted off into the woods, but not before leaving a pile of poo that would have filled a 5 gallon bucket. Smokey was a 100 feet off into the woods and we went eye to eye for a split second before he scrambled away. Relieved that I had managed not to contribute to the already voluminous pile of poo, I quickly pedaled off.

My next encounter with Smokey was a month later during a trail run. I had just started out, and with my trusty bear spray in hand was frequently shouting 'hey bear!' to every and all large mammals so they would be privy to my where abouts. I rounded a corner, and Smokey was 100 yards down the trail. I was a bit startled, but not at all scared. From that distance he looked so cute that I completely let my guard down. It wasn't until he started walking closer, and ignored my yelling and arm waving that I reached for the bear spray. Luckily, Smokey soon took the hint, and darted back into the woods. Carefully, I continued with my run, wondering if Smokey wanted to eat me or be my friend.

This morning, Smokey turned the tables, and paid a visit my home. At 6:45 am I awoke to a rapping on the downstairs window. Startled out of bed, I immediately thought it was the ghost that everyone says haunts the cabin. Which at the time seemed more plausible than a bear knocking on the window, but now seems ridiculous.

From the upstairs window, I could see Smokey trot off to the garage area and sniff around the 4 wheeler; probably checking to see if I left the key in it so he could go for a spin. I stumbled out of the cabin with camera and bear spray at hand. Simultaneously yelling to scare him off, and hoping he'd be posing some where close so I could get a picture. Alas, Smokey had vanished, and all I was left with were some muddy paw prints on the windows, and the realization that the cabin has single pane windows and there are no locks on the doors.