It's a bear's life...

A couple of romps the past week have produced some great scenery and a number of bear encounters.  The first bears were actually in Cathy's neighborhood (apparently a hot spot for bear activity) while I was walking back to Cathy's.  I wasn't paying attention to much other than the steepness of the hill I was trudging up when I caught a glimpse of movement to my right.  Across the street and to my right, in the driveway of a house, two sub-adult black bears were reared up on their hind legs taking turns batting at one another.  My first thought - where is the mom, second thought - I had nowhere to go as a ridge to my left was too steep, and third thought- they look like teddy bears with perfectly groomed and plush fur.  My presence didn't seem to bother them; they just kept pawing each other and ignored my slinking off.  Not expecting to see much between the bus stop and Cathy's house I unfortunately didn't have the camera with me and missed the opportunity of photographing these two beautiful bears.

The next day I took a hike on Perseverance Trail.  The trail head for this popular trail originates in downtown Juneau and follows the route of an old mining road - reportedly the first road in Alaska.  The two previous days had been warm - for Juneau standards - and I picked this day because it was supposed to be cooler, which it wasn't.  Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, the mostly cloudless sky allowed for some great views.

The trail follows aptly named Gold Creek for most of the length of the trail revealing plenty of waterfalls.

On my way back I decided to take a side trail to an old mining camp area.  Turning onto the secondary trail required taking a sharp corner that provided a brief blind spot to whatever may be on the trail ahead.  Of course, there was a black bear in the middle of the trail as I rounded the path supplying a definitive answer to the age old question "Does a bear *#%@ in the woods?"  He (interesting how I pick "he") was apparently embarrassed being caught in such a predicament and sauntered away from me; I decided to forgo that section of trail.

I continued on my way, deciding to keep a camera in hand instead of in my backpack.  (Un)fortunately, there were no further opportunities for photo ops with bears but I still managed a few more pictures of less intimidating subjects.

The green in this moss is spectacular, not sure if the picture does it justice.

Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

Later in the week, figuring I have been having some luck seeing bears, I went back to the Mendenhall Glacier area were bears are commonly seen feeding on the salmon in the streams.  Within a matter of minutes I came across a bear family hanging out - literally.

The sow was trying her best to get some sleep, but her two cubs would have none of that and kept swatting and play-biting each other.

Eventually the cubs had enough of each other and climbed a little higher on the tree to play with mom.  Mom then climbed down to where the cubs were.

And seemed to take out her maternal frustrations on this unsuspecting branch.

Eventually, the sow made it to the forest floor and rambled off.  The occupied cubs seemed unaware that mom had left the tree; once they realized it they wailed for awhile as they searched for their "misplaced" mother.  Eventually, they were reunited and she led the cubs to a stream where the salmon were plentiful.

Once they made it to the ground and into the underbrush it was amazing, and a bit unnerving, how quickly they blended in with their environment.