Day 321: I wasn't the only one out yesterday inventorying plants. These two were conducting a survey of blue huckleberries, taking representative samples from each bush, and from what I'd taste-tested on my way up the hill, I'd imagine that the crop got a five-star rating for both flavour and abundance. I'd actually gone past the bears without noticing them. They were quite a ways down-slope and possibly had been out of sight over the roll as I went by. I stopped to answer a visitor's questions, and another pair of hikers coming up from below spotted the pair and beckoned us down to see them. Even though I see at least one every year, I still enjoy watching the cubs as they learn how to be bears, tagging along behind mom, imitating her berry-picking techniques. Berry season is the best time for sightings, for obvious reasons! Something must have startled these two, though. After a few minutes of providing photo ops for visitors and rangers alike, they loped off downhill and disappeared over the rise.
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