The Triple Dish

I like to consider myself a semi outdoorsy (yes I am making outdoorsy an adjective) but not really an outdoor enthusiast per say. Labor day weekend was coming up and for once we knew in advance my husband would have the weekend free plus Friday and Labor day off! Woo hoo four-day weekend! I was filled with hopes and dreams of spending the weekend in Monterrey or Carmel enjoying the beautiful coast, staying at a nice hotel and trying new restaurants. So, when my husband suggested we go camping at Mineral King for the long labor day weekend I tried to be excited. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy camping just not as much as I enjoy staying in a hotel.

We hit the road Thursday afternoon, after packing our car full of backpacks, freeze-dried camping foods, water and our dog Bailey. The drive was a bit scary at times (a one way road for two-way traffic up a mountain?) but the views became more and more incredible. I am that passenger who insists we stop to take pictures along the way

We finally arrive at the top, and I am excited to get out of the car and explore! I open the back seat to let the dog out and am in the process of putting him on the leash when WHOOSH, he spots a few deer and is off. By off i mean runs into the wilderness with me screaming like a mad woman behind him to stop and come back. All i can think is that my little puppy (he is two not so much a puppy, but humor me anyway) is GONE alone in the woods filled with bears. Trying to remain calm and not hysterical I being traipsing around in the woods trying to use my “nice” dog voice to call him back to me. Ten LONG minutes later he, happy as a little clam comes running down the mountain sides towards me like the whole episode was no big deal. I was so relieved and vowed the rest of the trip he will be firmly secured to my husband or I. As soon as i begin to calm down from this episode, my hub and I split up, he walks to the campsite to set up the tent (about ten minutes away from where we parked) and my task was to bring the remainder of the items in the car to the campsite. No big deal right? I get halfway to the campsite and hear a strange noise… I look up and who is looking at my about 20 feet away? A BEAR. Holey Moley. I have no idea how I stayed calm and remembered what to do when confronted by a bear (OK I am so dramatic it was not confronting me, we just unfortunately crossed paths) anyway I slowly backed away trying to be as quiet and non threatening looking as possible, this bear probably judging me on by super fashionable camping gear (who doesn’t love pants that the legs can zip off to be shorts, ill probably be on the cover of Vogue soon) and continued to “follow” be in my retreat! AH! Luckily the bear was distracted by something else, and I took that time to fully retreat back to the car. I got in the car and promptly locked the doors (because you know these days bears open car doors?). Checked for cell reception so I could inform my hub I needed to be escorted from the car to the campsite because I was now scared to try the path. 30 long minutes go by and no sign of the bear, and it is getting darker…so while I was scared to see the bear again, I was even more frightened by the prospect of it getting dark and not seeing the bear and it jumping out of the trees and eating me. Again, I was being totally rational. I creep, literally I was tip-toeing, back to the campsite via the bear sighting path, hoping that by not making any noise i could hear the bear coming form a mile away? I make it back to the campsite and upon seeing my husband burst into tear (if you know me this is not surprising, for some reason tears seem to be my go to emotion. happy – tears, sad- tears, frustrated- tears, hungry- tears, just kidding on that last one )

Besides almost losing the dog, and getting eaten by a bear, it was a wonderful camping trip. We practically had the place to ourselves Thursday and Friday night and gazed at the stars (which are unbelievable when you are in the mountains here) and drank wine by the campfire. So, if you can brave the bears, i strongly recommend you camp at Mineral King, the views are well worth the trouble!

Tags: Bears, california, camping, Drama, Hiking, Mineral King