I'm not an experienced hiker/mountaineer/whatever. I was glad that there such folks around, though. This photo is of a hiker at the top of Nevada Falls, but I'm using it as an excuse to talk about another hiker, one on the Yosemite Falls Trail, one that I didn't get a photo of. I didn't have my camera out, because I was wondering what to do about the bear next to the trail. I saw a bear! I'd been walking along, wondering what was making so much noise up ahead, and then I saw the bear. And then I retreated. I kind of remembered: if you're in a place of human habitation and you see a bear, you're supposed to wave your arms and make noise; if you're in a natural place, you're not supposed to approach within 50 yards of the bear. Did a trail count as human habitation? I wasn't sure what to do. Then a more experienced hiker came up. I said, "There's a bear up ahead." "Oh, cool. Where is it?" "If you keep walking a few steps, you'll see it." This hiker didn't need to wait and figure out what to do--just kept walking. I figured that either I was dealing with a plumb crazy fool or else I was about to learn what to do about bears. The experienced hiker walked on up out of my sight--and then I saw the bear running downhill. And then I heard the hiker yelling "Hey yay!". So I guess that arm-waving and yelling stuff really works. So I was able to keep walking. I was sure glad that experienced hiker came along when she did.
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