East Tiger (Silent Swamp?) 6 miles

Banda has been in a kennel the past couple weeks while her (real) parents are on vacation. I broke her out early this morning though! When we came back home to unload, I let her wander outside a bit in order to finish getting ready for my hike. When I came back out to look for her, she was nowhere to be seen. I laughed out loud when I found her sitting in my back seat. She was ready to hike! How did she know?

Jen and I hit East Tiger Mountain. It is unknown if we took the trail originally intended. We didn’t see any signs for “Silent Swamp”. We took East Side Road for several miles and took off down the first trail head we found. Not another hiker was seen the entire 3 hours. We did see several mountain bikers though and I’ve been thinking about getting one lately…. Even if we were not in the Silent Swamp, it was very peaceful and serene. I absolutely love the sound of cascading water.

On the way back to the car (about ¼ mile away) I heard Jen say “There’s a bear.” She was very calm when she said this. There was no panic in her voice or anything to indicate she was serious. She said it like she was talking about something simple (like a squirrel.) I was like… “WHAT?!?” She said it again “I just saw a bear!” It was at that point I heard IT running away. I felt my heart start to race and anxiety kick in. If it wasn’t for Jen’s calm demeanor I just may have had a heart attack. At this point, I put Banda back on her leash and grabbed my car keys out of my pack. I was very anxious to get back to the car. I proceeded to ask her many questions (once safely locked in the car) She was 100% certain it was a bear and was not at all concerned about it. It was far enough away and turning away from us. But still…..WOW!! Jill, I bet ya won't be laughing at my bear bells now huh?!