Between Three Bears and A Hard Place

If you go camping and your told by an adult NOT to do something, maybe you should listen. Here is my reason for why:

It was day four of our camping trip in West Virginia. Our crew had about ten members: 8 kids under the age of eighteen and two adults. We were halfway through our week-long backpacking trip and like normal, we were always looking for an adventure. Sharing a tent with my friends Chris and Corry, who, like myself, are as adventurous as they come, we were looking to do just that

“Bruh what do you want? It's like 3:30 in the morning” Chris groaned, his eyes barely opened. “Oh wait. It’s already 3:30 am” he said as he sat up excitedly. Like always, we were following our tradition: waking up super early in the morning and going fishing together. We had been doing it for years. Still though, even with all our experience, we had never done anything like this in an environment like this one. One that was so heavily populated by black bears that we were told not to go out at all. Still, we hadn't listened, and we were planning on going anyway. 

We departed from camp, the sky still pitch black, and arrived at the lake around 4 am. We began fishing and we did so for about an hour. Around 5 am, sunlight broke through the lightly scattered clouds, and the horizon turned to a deep glowing orange.

“Guys this morning really couldn't get any bett-” I began to say as I paused and turned to my left. Crackling sticks in the distance had drawn our attention.

“Don't worry. it was probably just a falling branch” Chris said. So, we continued fishing. A couple of minutes went by and then *Crack*, we heard more branches breaking. That sound was loud, too loud to be a falling branch. So, Chris went to investigate. 

He came back, letting us know that we were all clear when, as we picked up our rods, Corry whispered: “Guys, look.” Just 20 yards down the waterfront were two small bear cubs.

“Okay, time to go” I stated, laughing nervously. Eager to get back to camp, we began to pack our gear. That is when just 20-30 yards now in the opposite direction, we saw another bear cub headed slowly in our direction. We were now standing in between three bear cubs, meaning that a protective and large mother was nearby, and we had no idea where she could be.

Without speaking, Chris and I took the lead and began blazing a trail between the bear cubs on both sides of us while keeping an eye out for the mother.

As we forged our trail, time passed and minutes felt like hours. If we got into a bad situation out here, we were completely by ourselves. With each ticking second we got more and more worried but we held our composure and continued on.

Minutes later, drenched in sweat due to both the heat and our nerves, we had successfully navigated past the single bear cub. That is when quite far away, from the direction of the two bear cubs, we saw a large black object emerge from the trees: the mother bear. We froze in fear, but now was no time to freeze up. We had to run.

We turned around and I sprinted. We all did. We ran uphill until we made it over half a mile away from the lake.Back at camp, we told no one of the events that had occurred and began our day.

The trip came to an end a few days later and Corry Chris and I only shared the story with our friends, sharing it with the adults on that trip a few years later. Time and time again following this trip did we still go camping, exploring, and still have the same adventurous inquisitiveness. However, for all future trips, we listened when told. Although it was tempting to go out even when we were told it wasn't safe, we decided that it was for the best not to. So, with that, I learned my lesson: if told by an adult that something is dangerous, it may be a good idea to listen.