An Early Morning Mist Trail Adventure

An Early Morning Mist Trail Adventure 

That included a surprise bear appearance 

by Gabriella Molina
gcm37@txstate.edu

Steps Taken: 33, 110

It was still dark out when the alarm rang at 4:30 a.m. After struggling to get up for some time, the adventure began around 5 a.m. Following a path that we discovered earlier in the trip (Thanks to Kaleb), we made our way to the Mist Trail. Determined and ready, we embarked on this trail. At first, nothing too out of the ordinary. The trail consisted of smaller hills that eventually lead up to bigger hills. As we kept going further, the steeper the hills became. Eventually, we found ourselves eye level with the side of a mountain that was once high above us. Moving right along we ran into a group of about five people who had stopped in their tracks. "There's a bear right after you turn past that rock," one woman said. Exuberantly, we continued past them, hoping to see the bear for ourselves. Lo and behold, there stood a brown bear nibbling on the brush around it. It had a tag on its ear, and it looked up at us as we tried to get pictures and videos for evidence.

Brown Bear from the Mist Trail
Photo by Gabriella Molina

Standing at the rail on our way to complete Vernal Falls trail
Photo by Mike Garcia

Once we each captured our little piece of the moment, we continued on the trail, trying not to bother the bear any further. We continued on the trail until we reached the bridge that marked what is said to be the halfway point for the Vernal Trail. Knowing that we had to go take b-roll of the junior park rangers program at 10 a.m., we decided we would go as far as we could while leaving enough time to make it to the program. We went past the bridge, (after taking some pictures, of course) and continued on until we couldn't anymore. Walking alongside the waterfall, it didn't take long before we we were soaked. Becoming concerned with how long it might take us to dry off before the junior ranger program, we decided to turn around and make our way back down. Overall, this hike was definitely the most memorable hike ever. Mike said all he wanted to do was see a bear on this trip, and he definitely got his wish. As for me I got great content for instagram, but I must admit, being one of the few students to see a bear on this trip was definitely icing on the cake!