Camping Trip #2 - La Sal Bear Hunt

What a freaking fun trip!  We were gone an entire week - and believe it or not, I wasn't truly ready to come home yet!  

The first bear I have ever seen in the wild!  

A baby cub just resting, as we are taking pics and the dogs are going crazy at the bottom of the tree.  

Our whole fam dam made it to a bear tree - at 6 in the morning, mind you!  And that included a hike!  It was way cool - and T was especially happy to have us there to experience what he gets to do all the time.

Our little bear sleeping in his cave!

One day we went into Moab and shopped and ate delicious pizza.  Owen stopped to smell the flowers.

This is a pic after the dreaded 3.5 hour hike up the mountain in the snow.  My husband is a nut!  I think I was driving him crazy ("honey, I can't go another step!  I'm going to seriously DIE")

My parents let us borrow the firetruck - Owen took Anna all over the place.  They both loved it.

So a hunter from a different camp accidentally shot a sow with 3 cubs.  The Fish & Game came and tranquilized the cubs to take them to a rehibiliation center in Idaho.  They will teach them how to live on their own and release them next year in the same place they were found.  T got to carry one of the bears off the mountain.  It was a bitter-sweet experience.  

Owen (and dad) picked a bouquet of wildflowers for me.  He hid them behind his back and really 'surprised' me!  It was dang cute.

Owen being his usual fun self

Anna is just at home being outside.  She had a double ear infection the entire time we were camping, but you wouldn't have known.  She is our little camper!

Beautiful country!

Another scenic shot...

Owen's first BB gun and shooting experience!  He thought he was hot stuff!

QUICK FACTS:

- Anna is the first 9 month old (that we know of) that hiked up the mountain to see a bear in a tree.    Mom's arm was a wee bit tired after packing her vertically (forgot my pack since it was 6 am and was woke up unexpectedly).  Anna seemed completely calm considering a bear 20 feet from her, and about 12 dogs going crazy.  She even slept while we were checking out the mama and her 2 cubs!

- 12 is the number of bears we saw... but don't forget the elk, rabbits, deer, horny toads, flying ants, and chipmunks.

- Owen shot his first BB Gun

- It rained or snowed every single day we were there.

- The rain or snow didn't bother me!  Bring it on!

- Number of levis/pants we went through as a family in the week: 22

- Number of baby wipes we used:  3000

- 25 - number of times I had to go potty in the bushes

LESSONS LEARNED:

- If you have hiked for 3.5 hours straight uphill and need to go 300 more yards at a very steep incline, just tie a belt around your waist, connect a dog (who is quite excited to get to the bear), and let him pull you up.  Then you only have two choices:  fall and let the dog drag you in the hail storm up the mountain, or lift up your heavy feet and move them, no matter how bad your legs are shaking!

- No one NEEDS cable or television for that matter.  There are lots of things to occupy our time if we just look around:  spoons for digging, paint sets, rocket balloons, swings, bubbles, adventure walks, throwing rocks, watering dogs, cooking, playing daddy lizard, mommy lizard, and baby lizard, playing daddy cowboy, mommy cowboy, and baby cowboy, and last but not least - going on 4 wheeler rides looking for bears.

All in all we had so much fun and can't wait until next trip.  Thanks to Bill & Mike for having us!