Rain with short respites, followed by more rain. I get up and make breakfast in the rain, and we soon adjourn to the hammocks under the tarp to play cards. At times like this, the 5-gal bucket with gamma lid shines… because it is clean in the rain, easy to access and get snacks out of… and the doubles as our card table. At lunchtime, it’s still raining… and we’re still playing cards, dice and killing time.

I look up from my cards and see a bear nosing about our cleaned dishes… about 30 feet away. Wow! I immediately jump up and shout “Hey! Hey” and clap my hands. The others are startled as the bear scampers away. I tell them a bear was just there; they didn’t see it. I always wondered what I’d really do if I saw a bear, and now I know; I’d instinctively do what I’ve repeatedly read that I’m supposed to do. :) The bear looked neither small nor real large… and so I wonder if he was a cub or not.

Fast forward 2 hours; we’re playing cards down by the lake when Isaiah looks up and sees that same bear, nosing around; Scott and I see him too, a couple of us shout and he runs off; we grab pots and bang them long and hard for a while, to encourage him to keep moving on. Only Skip hasn't seen the bear.

Weather is clear… we paddle and fish more… and we see no more hints of bear while in camp.

But after nightfall… yep… I’m pretty sure I can hear him walking around while we’re in our tent; we’re leaving the next day anyway… but at this point, I’m thinking I’d break camp for sure in the morning regardless. I left all gear in the open, all packs opened… and hung the food pack + garbage far away and high up…, and so I don’t see much reason to go chasing bears in the night; I go to sleep. It turns out my buddy Scott heard him too… and did not sleep so well.