First Bear; Last Blackberry Milkshake

From Sarah via phone conversation with Jay:

Jay told me he saw a bear, first bear sighting on the Appalachian trail for him.  "It was a BIG bear, I mean BIG, tall in the shoulder and really fat, round like a barrel.  Fortunately, when the bear saw me, he veered off into the underbrush and headed down hill." 

Tree that a porcupine has ravaged, in Georgia.
Fortunately there are no bear photos from Jay's trip,
yet. Rattlesnakes pose and smile for the camera
a lot more willingly than bears do!


"Another hiker told me that he saw a bear coming down the trail a few days ago.  The hiker stopped, then began backing up, giving the bear room like the books say.  Well, the bear just kept coming!  The hiker thought, 'this could go on for a while', so he stopped backing up and began walking toward the bear, with his arms outstretched, and doing 'crab hands', while saying 'Yah! Yah! Yah!'  The bear stopped, looked really startled, then turned and headed off the trail.  But the bear just went a few yards, then ducked behind a tree, with his head hidden, but his rear still sticking out!"

I had told Jay last week that the guidebook said Elkwallow, VA was the last place in Shenandoah National Park for northbound hikers to get blackberry milkshakes. 

"Well, I did get a blackberry milkshake today,"  Jay told me.  "It was really good, so, I got three. But it is all your fault." 

"How is eating THREE milkshakes my fault?" I protested.

"Well, you're the one that told me about it, and then I had to eat one for me, and one for you, and one for Daniel," Jay laughed. 

It is so nice to know he is remembering his family during this adventure!