I went camping...this is what happened.
Camp Dead Bear
Over the last weekend I went camping with a couple of friends. At least once a year, myself and
anyone else that is willing to join my merry band, go to Priest Lake, Idaho, Lionshead Creek...up
into the state endowment lands. The beauty is unmatched. Wild mountain streams roaring down
river rock and huge salt and pepper granite boulder beds with old snags criss-crossing the year round
frigid creeks. Deep light green pools, small white rapids and waterfalls flanked by great cedar groves.
Sheer slate and granite cliffs that tower out of the dark green alpine wood like ancient oracles.
When somebody says, "camping" it is the place I think of.
My grandfather camped there, my father camped there and I camp there. Needless to say it is a
generation thing and I hold this magical place I very close to my heart...but enough of the sap.
Day 1 Friday Afternoon
I got off of work a couple of hours early to get a head start on the packing and to meet up with my
buddies, Bryan and Steve. The load up went quick since we didn't need a whole lot...tent, chairs, arsenal, cooler and some sweet mountain green. Just a couple of stops before we headed out to the woods.
Food. Fuel...and of course ice, beer and liquor.
After the long winding drive we end up at the Lionshead Creek Unit campsite. The state campsite
lies next to the lake. It is nice. Has a beach and a dock, bbq style fire pits and shitters. Of course
they want at least 15$ a day and you have to deal with the forest dicks. No music after 10 p.m.,
campsites jammed so close together you can hear your neighbor fart, screaming kids and of course
the forest dicks.
Don't get me wrong, this is where we camped when I was a kid, but it wasn't the cheap outdoor motel it has become.
So we go where you dig a shitter out in the thick,
hang your ass over a log and do a play-dough factory. A place where two government signs state,
"ENTERING ENDOWMENT LANDS" and "ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK". Ahhh...this is more of my kind of camping right next to Lionshead creek. Large campsites spread farrrrrr apart and it is free.
We first noticed a few paper plates tacked up directing people to different camps. "Shit...I have a
feeling we aren't going to get THE campsite we want." I said to Steve.
Down the bumpy road we went and after hitting a couple of rocks that about made us shit our spines,
we were passed by a black truck. I knew the bridge was washed out next to THE campsite. No way
over that safely...could we have a chance? We came around the corner...no cars, no trucks,
no tents, "Oh fuck yeah, we got it!"
We jumped all over that campsite like wasps on a piece of steak since most every campsite below the
bridge was full .
We unloaded the truck in record time and had the tent half-way set up when 3 guys rode up on
mountain bikes. Ends up that the guy that had just passed us in the black truck, had just shot
one of two juvenile black bears just outside of camp he said were being aggressive.
One of the guys on the bikes had said the bears were at his camp and the one that the guy shot gave an aggressive charge against him at his camp.
Sure as shit. There it was. A small dead bear with a hole in its head. 15 yards away from the tent. "Fuck."
The guy and his girlfriend had gotten the forest dicks down at the Park campground. When
they came up they pepper sprayed and treed the other one up the way.
The forest dicks couldn't take the carcass for some bureaucratic reason and then it dawned on me.
We have to live with this carcass and its grieving sibling for the rest of the weekend don't we?
The guys on the mountain bikes rode off and in no less than 5 minuets, I heard Bryan yell, "Bear!"
It was hovering around the carcass, it certainly did not seem to give a shit that we were there, even after being pepper-sprayed.
Bryan busted out the pump action shotty and let two bird shot blast up into the forest canopy. BLANG! BLANG! That fucking bear just kind of looked at us like, "Pffft, whatever...", slowly turned and sauntered off into the woods. We knew for sure that at this point the bear was going to be around ALL weekend.
Was it grieving? Did it want revenge? Did it want to eat the carcass? Bear have been known to
be cannibalistic...It was at this point that we dubbed the camp trip "Camp Dead Bear" and that
Operation Bear Defense would be priority one.
You never know what could show up with a carcass
around. Coyotes, brown bear, wolves, grizzly bear, cougar. We all put on sidearms and went
about our camp business. As twilight fell upon the cedar grove, that carcass was weighing on my
mind and Mr. Blasty weighing on my side.
Day1 Friday Evening
In their haste, the people who had shot the bear, left a whole nights worth of logs. At least we didn't
have to forage for fuel and we could build a GIANT fire as part of Operation Bear Defense.
We were spotting the surrounding forest periodically to make sure that our little friend or anything
else was going to be lurking around. About 12 beers and a few bowls later, I took the spotlight
to the truck to retrieve something. As I was going I was spotting the forest, when all of the
sudden I saw two green jade like eyes looking back at me from the trees..."bear...Bear...BEAR!"
I bellowed. The boys came running and I kept the spot on the eyes when they disappeared. Suddenly
they appeared again. Bryan and Steve were standing beside me in seconds flat. Bryan said, "Where is he?"
The eyes were gone again. "He was right fucking there, man!" I said.
Chack chack, BLANG, chack chack, BLANG, chack chack, BLANG! Bryan let three shots ring out into the dark forest...then quiet.
Bryan decided he was going to sleep in the car. A few more beers later I staggered off to the tent,
wondering what the morning would bring.
Day 2 Saturday Early Morning
It was about six in the morning when I heard Steve get up and leave the tent. Suddenly I heard him
dart back into the tent, grab something and run back out of the tent.
"Bzzzzz, fizzzz, bzzzwweeeeee, get outta here abzzzzzz." He came back into the tent shortly after. "What the fuck was that about?" I asked.
"Fucking bear was like twenty feet away from the tent, digging at a stump." he said.
"I went out to take a leak and right when I left the tent I saw the bear digging at the stump. He didn't
notice me so I grabbed Chubbles (.357 snub nose) and pointed it at him, while I was making this
face." Steve made this crazy ass face which looked like a screaming Japanese demon.
"Then when he looked up at me I shooed him away and he went dashing off into the woods." Apparently Steve's face and strange "shooing" sounds did not sit well with the bear.
It started to seem that the bear was not aggressive and did not want to mess with our camp directly, but it certainly is too close for comfort.
The rest of the day was spent shooting and gathering wood. Camp remained untouched, as did the bear carcass...I started to think that the bear was somewhat lost without its sibling. I felt sorry
for it. However, bears that get this comfortable being around people are never good, for people
or bear.
Day 2 Saturday Late Afternoon
Later in the afternoon, a white truck pulled up to camp. It was one of the forest dick's volunteers
that was up the day before and had pepper-sprayed the other bear. We learned a few things from him. He told us that the two bears would not leave these folks alone and the guy who shot the bear said it made a threatening move at him. He had shot the bear in the hindquarters first, then finished him off in the head. Turns out that the people were cooking sides of salmon before the bears showed up...Cooking sides of salmon in bear country?
It became quite clear that these people are the dumbasses. I am sure they didn't burn everything the salmon touched either. All of my years camping up there, I have never had a bear in camp. Why? I burn every food container and every open food stuff should be put into the cab of the truck or trunk of the car
at night.
These numskulls had put out the biggest food beacon you could possibly waft out into the great outdoors for EVERY bear in the area to pick up on. Bad camping practice from not only them, but probably from a lot of people who have flocked to this place.
Once bears know they can get a "Pickanik basket, BooBoo," they tend to stay around people and stop foraging for their own food. Once they realize that they can just chase people away, that is when things can get ugly.
The volunteer said he had tried contacting Fish and Game to come and retrieve the body. Alas to no avail. "I am surprised you guys stayed here." he said.
"Ah, we're hardcore, makes things interesting anyhow." I said.
Steve pointed to the SKS assault rifle and said, "Don't worry, we are ready if something happens."
The volunteer told us "Good luck" and off he went. The rest of the afternoon and night went without a sighting...but just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it isn't around.
Day 3 Sunday Early Morning
I thought for sure that the bear would have been back in the morning. However, it was not the
sound of something rifling through our stuff that woke me. At first it sounded like music being
blared far out in the woods, but as it got closer, you could tell what it was...steel tracks.
Holy shit we are being attacked by the Germans! Closer and closer and it did sound like a
fucking tank! Suddenly it came right up to the front of camp. That is when I heard the sound
of hydraulics and metal scrapping against dirt. A backhoe had been walked all the way up
the dirt road. They were tearing out the washed out bridge at 8:00 am...on a Sunday.
Fuuuuuck...so much for sleeping in.
After having some coffee and watching the demolition of the bridge, we started packing up. Later on when we were loading the truck, our little friend the bear came around again.
It was just standing there...looking at the body of it's friend. I felt so sorry for it because I knew that it would just be a matter of time that it would share the same fate as it's friend. Unless it was
tranquilized and put somewhere far, far away, it does not stand a chance with as many people that camp up there nowadays.
The dead bear, the torn out bridge...maybe they are signs. Signs that I need to find a new camping area.
Somewhere, far, far away from Camp Dead Bear.
Next time Shanus goes to the Nitro Drags!