Bears, Bears, and More Bears

See the little cub standing up? Bear Family Photo.

(Unfortunately of their backsides!)One on the roadside and one in the tree!
It's not every day that you see a bear blocking traffic!
Adam proud of his find...

After I finished a case and rounds, Adam and I decided to go explore a part of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park where Mom and Dad had recently seen several bears. So, we headed out towards Crosby, TN (just outside of Gatlinberg) to see if we might just be lucky enough to find a bear or two. We turned into the park onto a gravel road and crossed several 1 lane wood bridges. About 1.5 miles down this simple drive, Adam spotted some movement about 1oo yards away, across the creek, and in the woods. We pulled over and were excited to make out the figures of 4 bears! Since they were across the water/rocks and very far away, we got out of our car to shoot some photos. The bears seemed unbothered by our presence and began to come towards us (slowly of course). We retreated quietly to the car and sat patiently hoping they would come closer. Well, they did! (One even blocked the road for awhile!) We watched a Momma and her 3 cubs forage in the leaves for food. 1 cub stayed close to the Momma, while the other 2 headed up into the trees...wayyyyyy up! The cubs in the trees were eating little "round" objects (nuts, buds, ?) and shaking them down for the others to eat off the forest floor as well. Overall, we watched them alone for about 15 minutes and then were joined by several other cars. Several unintelligent people got dangerously close to the bears and kind of ruined the beauty of the experience. Overall though, Adam and I feel very blessed to have enjoyed these animals alone together in solitude for many minutes! Here are some photos I managed to take before my camera battery died... (PS If you click on the photos, you'll be able to see the bears much better!)