A Bear & A Bobcat Punctuates A Great Weekend In SWVA

Sometimes stuff happens to change the focus of a blog and that happened Saturday evening and Sunday morning on our visit to the Cabin near Fort Blackmore. I originally thought I would mostly be talking about camping out to test my Kelty Tarp, cleaning out the spring and a little hiking, but that changed when a bear showed up late Saturday and a bobcat on Sunday.

Since I am going to have a picture of the bobcat at the end let me first talk about what happened first. My Dad, Pete, and I headed over on Friday as it was mowing time. I also took my Kelty Upslope Tarp, sleeping bag, camping pillow, and sleeping pad to finally test them out. I decided U need to do this after by backpack to Grassy Ridge Bald...I need to cut weight and one way is to go with this tarp (just under two lbs.) vs. my tent (about five lbs.). So, after mowing and building a fire I decided to go ahead and set up my trap outside of the Cabin because the rain chance was like 30%. So, once I got the tarp laid out, staked and my hiking poles put in to prop the ends up I put down my Big Agnus tent one-person footprint. It was on here that I put my sleeping pad and sleeping back, this system looked good, but overnight would tell the tale. I will say that I slept well, just as good as my tent. I still need to get the hang of setting it up, but it passed its test and is ready for action.

On Saturday, the big job was pumping mud out of the old spring box. Let's just say the spring box, where the water comes out of the ground and collects, has, according to Dad, it has been there a long time. Since it flows from this box to the cistern to be pumped into the Cabin we decided to clean it out. It keeps mud out of the cistern and improves the life of the water filter. We used a gas-powered water pump with intake and outtake While we pumped out a lot of mud and water there was some hands-on work. Meaning some shoveling and hand removal of mud, but we got it done.

After that, I finally got Pete out for a hike. We did about 2.5 miles, including climbing three deer stands. Oh, we only got rained on once. So, like the night before I settled down by the firepit. It was a nice evening and it was even a little orange from the Sahara Desert.

On Friday evening Dad and I had spotted deer across the branch there were two does. It was in this same area that a Black Bear would wander in. On my hike earlier I saw plenty of bear sign (scat and scratches on a tree), so I knew they are around. Funny thing is I wouldn't initially see it for some reason. It wasn't until Dad tapped on the window (he was inside) and pointed out that I looked that way. I just caught a glimpse of the bear before it headed up the hollow. I didn't get enough time to get a picture. I went across the branch to see if I could get a shot, but he was gone. I guess I sat outside another half-hour before heading in.

Then I went out to get my muddy jeans and there under the big Fraser Fir, scratching his back was a good size Black Bear, the same one I had gotten just a glimpse of. earlier. So, I ran in to get my camera (because I had foolishly left behind). Luckily for me, he didn't run off but actually came from under the tree and "poised" for me. I think it is male and a good size bear, probably about 250 pounds, which means I don't think it was Buddy, but the other bear I captured on Trailcam last year. So, I am going to call this one Ole Slew Foot after the Johnny Horton song of the same name (I also included the Porter Wagner version as that was the first I heard). I would later find some black bear hair on the tree.

I thought that the weekend couldn't get any better but I was wrong.  As Dad and I sat on the porch watching the rain and birds, in between showers we saw something up near the old Dodge Truck. It was a large animal, the size of a dog. But when I zoomed in it wasn't canine, but feline...it was a cat. I knew at that moment it was a Bobcat! I have only seen a Bobcat in the wild one other time and that was at my Pap Paw's old place on Clinch Mountain, that was 40 years ago. So, when I looked at the pictures it confirmed what I first suspected...it was a Bobcat! I decided to call it Mr. Kitty, after Cartman's cat on South Park.

I would have been happy just seeing one of these animals, but I got to see two. Oh, just think I sleep out with these guys around...sweet!