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Old 18 Jun 20, 04:22 PM  
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katiebaz
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Pacific Northwest Aug 2019 - Day 18 Close encounters of the bear kind at Sol Duc Springs, Olympic NP

After a great sleep we sat and watched the sunrise over the lake with a cup of tea. We then made our way over to the Lodge for breakfast, and enjoyed eggs, toast and fruit. After breakfast we sat by the lake again drinking in the views, reading and enjoying the peaceful and relaxed start. Finally it approached check out time and we said goodbye to the beautiful Crescent Lake and headed to the Sol Duc Springs area of Olympic National Park for more hiking and where we would be staying that night.

On the way to Sol Duc we stopped at Salmon Leap and did a short hike - sadly we didn’t get to see any Salmon leaping upstream and think this happens a bit later in the season. We arrived at Sol Duc Springs resort around 11am, which is not really a resort but a campground and cabins alongside pools of different temperatures fed by the naturally occurring hot springs. We did fancy a swim and soak but thought we would do another hike first. The hike we had picked was the 6 mile round trip to Sol Duc Falls - the route was flat so it seemed very straight forward and something we thought would take us a couple of hours to do.

As we set off the trail wound through the campground and then led for a couple of miles through the dense forest, where we hardly saw anyone else. As we approached the falls themselves, the trail became much busier as you can drive to ½ a mile from the falls and walk from there if you prefer. The falls themselves were lovely and we found a log to perch on and enjoyed drinks and snacks before heading back to the resort. We picked a circular route and the trail back to Sol Duc resort was mainly through the forest, alongside the other side of the stream. Again we only saw one other couple as we were hiking back.





As we were walking along, I was in front and turned a corner on the trail, when something crossing the path made me stop and jump back. About 10 foot in front of me was a huge black bear wondering across the trail. I turned to the rest of the family shouting bear and we all did what you are not meant to do and panicked quite a bit. Here we were alone in the forest with a huge bear far too close for comfort. After retreating up the trail slightly we had a discussion about what to do and it was decided as we could no longer see the bear we would walk on. However, this time, remembering everything we had learned about bear encounters from various books and talks, making lots of noise so we didn’t frighten or surprise the bear. We walked on clapping loudly and shouting - although the only thing we could think of to shout was ‘Play Up Pompey’ as we are big Portsmouth FC fans.

Soon we came to a crossing of the stream and low and behold the bear was standing on the other side of the bridge! We waited a few minutes still shouting and clapping until it lumbered off into the forest then we quickly crossed the bridge. Still clapping and shouting we walked at quite a pace, keeping one eye on the bear, who to be fair was chomping away on berries and not taking any notice of us. It was a little disconcerting to pass another bear who was a little of the trail a few feet later, but we keep shouting and clapping as we tried not to be too terrified. It was about a mile back to Sol Duc and I don’t think we have ever walked a mile so quickly. The relief at seeing the buildings of Sol Duc come into view was immense and as we arrived back we stood in the car park and all looked at each other, not quite believing what had happened. Seeing wildlife is amazing when you are in a National Park and bear sightings are special, but I don’t ever wish to be that close to a bear again. They are absolutely huge and powerful and next time we go hiking in bear country we are definitely investing in bear spray.

To celebrate surviving our bear encounter we all had huge ice-creams before having a swim and much needed soak in the hot springs – bliss.



At around 4pm we checked into our cabin, which was quite a rustic room with a bathroom but did have a lovely porch which we could sit and relax with a beer. As we were doing so, a deer ran past, almost right up to the porch. We certainly were having our fill of wildlife today.



That evening we headed to the restaurant on site had enjoyed wings, huge burgers and fries which were much deserved after such an adrenaline fuelled day and also we hadn‘t had any lunch. We had a good chat to our server about bears who told us tales of encounters with Grizzly bears in Montana which made us very relieved that ours had been with a black bear which tend to be less aggressive. That night we watched the sun set on our porch reflecting on our unforgettable experience before falling into bed as we were all exhausted.

Edited at 05:12 PM.
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Old 19 Jun 20, 07:57 AM  
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CrispyA
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Eek, a bear! I think we always hope to see one, just not that close! Glad you all managed it ok though and that the bear was pretty chilled out. Sol Duc sounds really nice
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Old 19 Jun 20, 09:17 PM  
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Wordsworth
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I would have been terrified by seeing a bear that close!
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Old 20 Jun 20, 11:24 AM  
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katiebaz
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Originally Posted by CrispyA View Post
Eek, a bear! I think we always hope to see one, just not that close! Glad you all managed it ok though and that the bear was pretty chilled out. Sol Duc sounds really nice
Sol Duc was lovely but I NEVER want to see a bear quite that close again
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Old 20 Jun 20, 11:24 AM  
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katiebaz
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Originally Posted by Wordsworth View Post
I would have been terrified by seeing a bear that close!
To be honest we were quite terrified ourselves - we can laugh and enjoy the memory now but it was quite scary at the time
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Old 30 Jun 20, 11:27 AM  
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smithlane
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Oh my, I've always wanted to see a bear in the wild but maybe not that close! Doesn't help that I've recently watched an episode of Station 19 (that's set in Seattle!) and there was a bear attack in it.
I will be investing in bear spray now
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Old 30 Jun 20, 04:43 PM  
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katiebaz
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Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
Oh my, I've always wanted to see a bear in the wild but maybe not that close! Doesn't help that I've recently watched an episode of Station 19 (that's set in Seattle!) and there was a bear attack in it.
I will be investing in bear spray now
We will be too! I always wanted to see a bear but not that close and I will give that episode a watch!
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Old 1 Jul 20, 05:55 PM  
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Sparksy72
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So you absolutely earned the ice creams after your very scary bear encounters. Might have to put bear spray at the top of the Walmart Shopping list The hot springs sound incredible.
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Old 4 Jul 20, 07:26 AM  
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katiebaz
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Originally Posted by Sparksy72 View Post
So you absolutely earned the ice creams after your very scary bear encounters. Might have to put bear spray at the top of the Walmart Shopping list The hot springs sound incredible.
Yes sugar was definitely needed after all the adrenaline! The hot springs were lovely and I could have easily spent longer there.
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