Bears, Bells, Beauty, and Smoking Volcano

  "Should we get these bored dogs out of the house for a walk," my wife asked. It was more of a statement than a question, as the bored dogs were driving us both crazy with begging and whining.
  I looked out the window to rain.
  "It is raining right now, but it probably won't get any better, and the dogs sure don't care," my wife commented.
  We grabbed our coats and boots and headed for the car. Steady rain plastered the windshield as we drove up the hill to the trail head.
  Living in Sitka has the advantage of some wonderful trail systems for walking, jogging, or bike riding. Needless to say, the dogs of town love hiking with their owners as much as anybody.
  "Let's go by the high school," my wife said.
  "You know that is the closest trail to the bear country," I answered back. She was driving and the car made a quick turn left to head to a different part of the trail.
  Bears. This time of the year all the sows with cubs escape to town to get away from hungry boar who will try to eat their young. The battle of spring takes shape just after snow melt.
  One does not want to meet a sow with a cub any time any where. If you are lucky enough, you will just be charged at by a jaw popping, growling, slobbering angry bear. If you are unlucky, you become a target for a mauling, ending in weeks of recovery and at worst, death.
  Slow moving dogs, like our old Labrador can become great targets for these bears. A few years ago our town vet was walking his pack of dogs and his old lab lagged behind. After waiting for some time, the dog did not come catch up so he headed back down the trail to find a bear killing his old dog. The bear would not scare off so he climbed a tree and called fish and game. They came and dispatched the trouble bear.
  Events like these are always on your mind while walking the trails.
  After the dogs, my wife, and I reached the trail the noise began.
   "What in the world?" I asked.
  I looked at my wife to see a bundle of car keys and two big bells jingling like crazy. It was like being in the middle of a heard of bell clanging sheep!
  "Hey, at least the bears will know we are coming," she smiled.
  Wow, I guess so... as long as the rest of town!
  Clang, clang, jingle jingle... here we come... every bear clear the area.
  Everywhere we looked the wild flowers were blooming. It was just a spectacular time to go hiking in the woods.
  Coming to a scenic overlook carved out by the trail builders, we found a nest of purple flowers.
  "If only the clouds were not in front of the volcano," my wife said, "we would have a flower framed photo of the greatest sight in Sitka.
  Mt. Edgecumbe is the highlight of this little fishing town. The big volcano perches over the ocean and is the crowning jewel of the incredible beauty of this place.
  Just the other day, while out fishing, I was able to capture a fun photograph of the mountain.
  "Hey look," I told the clients, "that cloud on the volcano makes it look like it is smoking."
   I stopped the boat and we shot several photos of it.
  I thought back to that day and the great shots, and wished I could frame it with the flowers of today's hike.
  We made the hike without seeing any bears, much to the delight of my wife. We may never hear the same again, but no bears spotted.
  I had to remind her of the story I tell my clients when they ask about the bears around here.
  "There are two types of bears in S.E. Alaska," I tell them, "Brown bears and black bears. When hiking in brown bear country you carry bear pepper spray and put bells on your shoes."
  "The way you tell the difference between the black bears scat (poop) and brown bear scat is that brown bear scat smells like pepper spray... and .... has bells in it!"