The Hoh Rainforest is a wild place. If you’ve ever been, you know its’a trip into Jurassic Park territory. Everything is super sized; trees, leaves, mushrooms, beetles, ferns. The multiple hues of green range from the bright lime green of a knife fern to the blackish green of draping moss. I found it impossible to capture the feel of it in a photo. There are a few good hikes here. Two easy roundtrips, the romantic sounding Hall of Mosses and the aptly named Spruce Trail. There were warning signs at all the trailheads, ‘Watch for Roosevelt Elk’, a few babies had been born and the mamas were apparently protective and aggressive so the message was steer clear. There were quite a few people around and the two short loops were a great introduction to the atmospheric dripping moss and massive ancient tree environment. We decided to hike aways down the Hoh River trail(a backpacking classic at 26.5 miles), we wanted to get a feel for the remote rain forest away from the tourist throngs.
I’d gotten really relaxed about bears since we left Yellowstone. I knew there was a healthy population of black bears in Washington, especially in the Hoh area, but most of what I read said they were active and seen on trails from May through August. I’m not sure why I’d gotten so lax but I had even begun leaving my bear spray back at the Cricket. On the day we chose to hike the Hoh, I didn’t even think about it.
Within a half mile, we had left people behind and got deep into the rain forest. We could hear the river off to our right and we fell into the companionable silence that overcomes us when we get into the rhythm of hiking. The sun was casting rays down through the canopy of green. It was quiet. I was watching my feet because of the gnarly root system but also trying to crane my neck to the skies to awe at the 200 ft Spruces. We were rounding a curve, Mark behind me by several feet and suddenly my mind registers a few things at once: there is a big black furry back humped over a log adjacent to the trail, the fur is incredibly shiny in the sunbeams, omg-it’s a black bear, stop. Run.
Now I am serious when I tell you that all my fears and all my reading and all the advice came down to 2 seconds in which my brain processes all of those things and I did an abrupt u-turn, loudly whispering to Mark with saucer eyes while basically walk-running right past him: BEAR! I heard him intake his breath, say Shit and turn to follow. I was walking briskly shall we say, glancing back every few feet. I asked Mark over and over, is he coming, is he coming? Is the bear following? My heart was pounding out of my chest as I ran headlong into a nice young couple, I panted bear, bear, bear. Wow, my adrenaline was out of control. The boyfriend calms me down, exactly where? I explain it was on the trail!! Mark said he saw it lift its head up as we turned tail.
Here’s where it gets wonky. I can’t understand it but everything we know about how to handle an encounter with a black bear on the trail goes out the window. Curiosity super cedes common sense. It’s an old story. The couple start to move forward and so does Mark. Incredulous, I ask “where are YOU going??” Mark says I WANT to see it. SERIOUSLY? Instead, I pant, ok, just be careful. Until I realize I’m standing all alone on the path. SO, I go running after them loud whispering wait, wait,wait and Mark shushes me. He shushes me. What are we doing here? Are we sneaking up on a big black bear so we can spy on him? Aren’t we supposed to be making a lot of racket right now? But I’m right there with them. There’s four of us stealthily creeping up the path… and he’s gone. I’m pointing to the big log where he was sprawled and he’s not there. Everyone looks quizzically at me, like are you sure that was the right log? We are moving forward still and Mark and I looking to the right by the river, logically he must have ventured over to the water, right? When I hear the girl who is to the left of me on the path say, OH MY GOD, he’s right here. I never ever want to hear those words again in reference to a bear.
Slow Motion: I was walking beside her and a little back, and when she said that I turned my head to the left and as I did a very very large black bear turned his head to look at me. Five feet away. Five feet. The brain is a complex thing. I did not react or make a sound. I lost all sensation in my body, stopped breathing, and saw Mark make a quick right turn down the path to the river and away from the bear. I sped up my pace to join him.
Now we are all hovering together on a narrow dead end ridge over the river. I start scanning the dense bush for escape and the guy says to me, Never Run. There’s four of us, we can scare him away. The girl is peeking up the path saying I can see him! He’s still there. At this point, I am thinking of making a break and running through the brush, forget all this whispering! Instead, I huddle and agree. That is a HUGE male bear and wow he was so damn close, but yes let’s definitely go back up the path and scare him away.
Out of the blue, we see from our hiding place , three people pass the bear at the top of the trail, I’m yelling to them Bear! Bear! Finally, the hikers see my frantic waving and they all join us on the dead end path. Now there are 7 of us. One of the three joiners was kinda ticked that we had called him back and down into our bear hideout after he realized he had passed him already and backtracked to see what the heck we were yelling about. He poo-poo’d our cautiousness and said lets go. By this time, the bear had lost interest in our silly human planning session and wandered deeper into the woods, he was still visible but busy eating his fill. We had no choice but to follow the group but when the five of them turned to continue the hike, we briskly went the other way. I was NOT going any further, we had to come back this way. The entire 2 miles back out everything I saw, dead tree stumps, piles of leaves, mossy rocks, was a bear. I was just a little on edge.
I couldn’t believe I let my guard down!! Mark and I were buzzing. Mark kept saying, I never want to be that close to a bear ever again. And that was a huge bear. We kept replaying the moment, like we’d met our favorite rock star. The details, when did you first see him, what did he look like, he looked directly at me…
I have to admit, I stopped the first 3 groups of hikers I met on the way back to do the polite hiker thing, warn them of BEAR AHEAD. The first couple were stoned and could care less, the second was a group of well-seasoned guides that were like cool dude, and the third was a young couple who said thank you to my admonition of make lots of noise and you’ll be fine. I was an expert now.
I felt baptized, christened by the holy encounter, and I felt like I was one of the crowd now. I’d stared into a bears eyes on the trail and he could have cared less! I think I gave my newbie status away on that trip back down the trail, but I was adrenaline rushed and I wanted to tell everybody.
Apparently, Hoh is home to hundreds of black bears and its not uncommon to see them on the Hoh River Trail. They usually leave humans alone. It’s that word ‘usually” that bothers me. But, it was not in the cards for me to be the exception to the rule this time out, even though we forgot the rules and let our excitement overrule our brains. Now that it had happened, I know what it feels like to be feet from one of these wondrous creatures. I never once thought to take out my camera. In the rush of that momentary eye contact, fear and respect merged into a sense of reverence for the untamed. I’ll carry that with me always.
Nature can surprise and delight but it can also overwhelm with violence and savagery. I’m beginning to understand the fine line we as humans walk when we enter the primal world with our backpacks and our water bottles and sturdy shoes, exposing ourselves to risk and potential danger. It’s that tension that quickens the pulse and makes us feel more alive then we’ve ever felt before, in the presence of all that wildness where rules are manmade and nature decides who’s in charge.