Man or bear?

There is a question on social media about whether a woman would rather run into a bear or a man while hiking alone. 

There are many men getting their knickers in a twist because it bothers them that most women would rather run into a bear. 

Today I drove to Shenandoah to hike and I ran into both. 

There were foam flowers everywhere, so finally I have wildflowers to enter into Miranda’s delightful wildflower challenges. This website says they get up to 16 inches tall but the ones I saw all over the park were easily five feet and higher.  https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=TICO 

Yes, yes, you want me to get on with it. 

I hiked on one trail and ran into some men but all but one had women with them to keep them under control and from being dangerous. There was only one man hiking alone and he was young and skinny and I could have taken him if needed.

On my way back I saw a woman walking alone and said, “hi not-a-bear” and she laughed. 

Then I went on Compton Gap trail. After 1.75 miles I turned around because I didn’t want to risk being on the trail once it got dark. Thirty minutes from the car I looked up and there was a bear 30 feet in front of me crossing the trail.

It took two seconds to process that this really was a bear. A bear. That’s a bear. It is not a large dog by itself. It is a bear. 

It took two more seconds to process that I should take a picture.

It took two more seconds to get the camera up, by which time the bear had crossed the trail and was in vegetation. The picture in the extras is the best I have. It is cropped heavily. 

So in answer to a bear or a man - A BEAR!!! Totally a bear! That was so exciting! I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a picture of the bear in the trail with its right leg forward like it is in my memory but totally a bear. I would way rather see a bear. Oh my god. 

Don’t tell Karen.