Owyhigh Lakes,  Mt Rainier National Park,  August 8, 2008     page 9 / 11

Shortly thereafter we heard a horrendous racket coming somewhere along the trail in front of us. Someone was hollering quite a bit. We met a fellow hiker a minute later. She had passed us along the trail during our hike in, and had since reversed course. She asked if we had seen the bear. There had been one in the area, so she made a bunch of racket to scare it off. While this served her purpose, we were disappointed that we had not spotted the creature. The black bear in this part of the country are rarely a hazard, but sometimes a nuisance.

We soon reversed our course as well, returning to the lakes for some lunch. We enjoyed the peaceful setting and remarked how well the surrounding area looked. It is not uncommon to see a place like this overrun with people who run off the trail, through the meadows, creating new trails where none should be. This area displayed no signs of such activity. Rather, the meadows were unblemished; a pleasant surprise, indeed.