The Bears are Stirring....

[gravy boat]

Hubby and I were skiing at Gunstock today and he spotted what he thought was an animal snoozing under a large rock with a good size of space underneath. My husband mentioned he saw a sign at the lift saying to leave the Bears (plural) alone...I didn't notice the sign and thought it was probably a joke of some sort.

We took the same lift and checked again -- sure enough, a good sized black bear was sleeping in that sheltered spot. We thought it would be too good to be true if we saw it moving. After seeing a few porcupines munching on some trees last weekend (under the Panorama), we felt very lucky to see a hibernating bear.

A few lift rides later and there SHE was -- crawling out from the rock after TWO cubs! We were so excited to see a mama bear and her cubs. Eventually they went back to sleep in the same spot. We went up the lift a few times and tried to see how many cubs -- we saw two for sure.

My cell phone didn't catch a shot good enough, so when we return tomorrow we'll bring our digital.

For those skiers out there heading to Gunstock tomorrow -- take the Tiger chairlift and about 100 yards short of where Derringer kicks in you'll see two large rocks on the right -- the second one is set back just a bit further than the first -- that's the spot.

Gravy

[dmjr]

I would stay away from a mother and 2 cubs. That getting to close for comfort and you might get attacked

[HomeWood]

That's so cool. Did you see them from the chair lift or were you skiing by them?

[gravy boat]

No worries. We were on a moving chairlift. Other skiers were aware and were respectful as well. Some employees of Gunstock seemed to be watchful, which is good.
We know better than to approach a mother and her cubs.
We know better than to approach ANY wild animal or unknown domestic animal as well. And our children know better as well.

It was an experience I won't soon forget. :)