[Karen]

West Boundary Trail On our way to the Carbon River entrance of Mount Rainier National Park we had to stop the car – two very young fawns were darting across the road as the mother stood alongside. We thought the fawns were only a few days old because when the mother stepped out onto the road one of the fawns began to nurse. It quickly lost interest and darted off into the brush. Just when we thought we could start to drive again the other fawn jumped out onto the road and could not see the mother. It cried and bleated but mother didn’t come to its rescue. We finally slowly continued driving and to our dismay it began to follow us. Fortunately it soon turned around and scampered off into the brush. We hoped that the fawns and the mother would survive the holiday weekend. Please, please, please – if you are driving anywhere near Mount Rainier (or anywhere) drive carefully and with care. The plan was for us to hike as far as we could on the West Boundary trail with hopes of getting to Tolmie Creek and perhaps even beyond. Recent trail reports indicated the abandoned trail was in fairly good condition and the weather was perfect. Cool and clear but not too hot. The trail starts from the Carbon River Nature trail just on the other side of the footbridge and is hard to miss as it is well-marked with an abandoned trail sign. However, the trail is just as good as many established trails within the park, at least the first half of the trail, as far as Alki Pass at 4,400 feet. The trail is steep – it starts at 1,700 feet but it is mostly in old-growth forest and it is shady most of the way. We crossed a stream at about 3,200 feet. Despite the lushness of the vegetation the trail is fairly easy to follow and we had no difficulty (other than it being a strenuous climb) getting to Alki Pass. From Alki Pass the abandoned trail is more of a challenge as it descends in 1,200 feet to Tolmie Creek. Someone has worked on the trail and where there are no major blowdowns some sections of the tread are sketchy and other stretches are slumping from the pull of gravity and erosion. A few sections of the trail are overwhelmed with salal but we were able to follow the tread without too much difficulty. On both sides of the pass there are a few old Park Boundary signs – always a pleasure to run across old signs. We reached Tolmie Creek, a beautiful, lonesome spot and had our lunch there. After lunch, I wanted to make sure we could find the start of the trail on the other side so I hopped, skipped and jumped across – getting one foot soaked on the way back across. The trail DOES continue on the other side of Tolmie Creek but it is much less traveled, if at all. We had been dreading having to climb 1,200 feet on the way out but we took our time and were back at Alki Pass sooner than we had anticipated. The way down was swift and easy, though today my muscles are telling me I went too fast. That was a very full day but it wasn’t over yet. As we left the park we spotted a young bear ambling along the road, heading toward a cluster of tents and campers. We stopped to warn the campers of the bear rapidly approaching their tent but they had apparently already encountered the bear earlier in the day. We hoped they’d scare the bear away but not hurt it in any way. Again, spotting all this wildlife was wonderful – but it serves as a reminder to us all that these animals were here before us and we need to respect them and also be mindful of driving on roads where they are likely to be encountered, especially early in the morning and on toward evening. Karen

[sarbar]

Hey, Karen! You saw the same young black "cinamon" bear I saw a week and a half ago. Sad story about that bear Read my story on him on my trail report "shaky hands". According to a ranger up at Sunrise, the little guy basically has a death warrant on him All because some dumb dipwad thought it'd be "cute" to feed him cookies!!!! ^%$$&(*(*&$#$ is what I have to say! That camper destroyed a beautiful creature! Ok......I'll get off my soapbox.

[MCaver]

I wonder if it's the same bear I saw in that area last year. She and her 2 cubs were on the Spray Park Trail above Spray Falls. She had also been spotted on the Tolmie Peak Trail the day before. Last year she was very cinnamon colored. She paid little attention to me, so much that I had to wait 15 minutes for her to get her fill of berries and move on so I could get by.

[Karen]

Uh oh, now I AM worried about that bear. Yes, he did have brownish (a warm brown) reddish highlights. As I posted he was heading directly toward this campsite just outside of the Carbon River entrance -- as we shouted our warnings to the campers (a bunch of young folks) they shouted back that they had seen the bear earlier and didn't seem upset about it at all. But the bad news is is that one of my companions said one of the campers was heading back to the tents with a gun. I am hoping they were only going to scare him away and not shoot him. If it is/was the same bear that some bozo fed cookies too I'd like to see the bear get hold of that person and give him a good shaking (not fatal, of course). In retrospect I wish I had kept my mouth shut and let the bear go for the tent -- but that's probably not a good idea either on second thought. If allowed to go into tents then it becomes even more of a temptation for the bear to rummage through campsites looking for cookies and junk food. I am no expert on such matters but hopefully the bear can be captured and moved deeper into the wilderness. Also, it was truly a beautiful little bear with rippling, rolling muscles and a thick, rich coat. I wish him/her well. Karen

[sarbar]

Were they camping in the NP campground or in the dispersed camping on the road just outside the park? Just wondering on the gun issue! The guy who fed that bear got off with a $100 fine and a 1 1/2 hour lecture from a ranger. I'd say he got off really EASY!!!! I just wish I hadn't been so excited when I saw the cutie bear! Would've been nice if all my photos hadn't been shaky......

[Karen]

Sarbar, They were just outside the entrance of the park on what you'd call the dispersed camping area. I got one photo of the bear but it's not good enough to post. Good enough for me to keep, though. I don't have any bear pictures. I feel like going back! Just to see if the bear is still around. Karen

[sarbar]

I have been thinking the same thing! I wanna go back and get some photos of the bear