Thus far I have shown photographs of the first and third black bears we met during our 3000 mile road trip. Not mentioned was our second and closest “encounter” which happened so quickly there was no time to photograph it.  While driving through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park at dusk one evening, a small bear scampered across the road directly in front of us.  We were traveling at about 35mph and I immediately jumped on the brakes. We came to an abrupt stop but not before hitting the bear front and center. The bear seemed to “bounce” off the bumper and skidded across the road.  It made brief eye contact with me seemingly to inquire why I had run into him. I am not proud to admit that my first concern was for my 10-day old BMW. I immediately pulled over to inspect the damage and was totally surprised to find absolutely none.  I then checked up and down the side of the road expecting to find an injured bear cub or his really pissed off mother. Neither were to be found.  Apparently bears are very well cushioned and I had slowed enough to prevent injury. It was a very close call and I am extremely relieved it ended well.

Why, you may be wondering, is there a picture of a turtle in a post about a bear?  It is a reminder to drive slowly when traversing animal habitats. Jeanine discovered this fellow while we were visiting a war memorial in Gettysburg. For the record, I did not step on it or hit it with my car.

Stopping only for food and fuel we drove all the way back to Concord today, thankfully without any further animal encounters.