4 Bears at Whistler!

As we rode the Peak 2 Peak larger Gondola from one peak to another at Whistler a lady said, "I think that's a bear!" My wife looked down and saw the black bear (likely a big male because he was alone). I saw him too. I was sort of glad to see a bear in the wilds that I wasn't right next to. When you are out and about hiking without weapons you really don't want to see a bear. It's not that you want to shoot a bear because you usually aren't supposed to because they are protected most places. However, you kind of want a weapon nearby so you can survive the encounter no matter what. The one you don't want to see in person is a female bear with cubs ever. Both mother bears and Mother deer will kill you if you get too close to their babies. Many people don't know this about deer but female deer have hooves as sharp as knives and they know how to use them. The prefer to run but if they can't they'll make a stand and you would at least get pretty cut up or even dead if they hit your jugular vein in your neck or the artery in your upper thigh.

Anyway, on this day we were perfectly safe seeing the big black bear and later on the smaller about 6 person capacity gondola back to the village we saw a brown bear mother and her two cubs. Amazing day to see 4 bears the same day!

In the smaller gondola they were above where mountain bikers ride the trails. That's what is done in the summer months now at Whistler young men and a few women who like to ride mountain bikes over trails and jumps take the chair lifts and gondolas up and ride down the ski slopes on mountain bikes. It is very lucrative for the resorts at Whistler Village.

For those of you who have never heard of Whistler it is north on 99 about 3 hours from Vancouver, Canada up into the mountains. It is a year around ski resort most years but not this one because it has been too hot even though there has been enough rain. However, the temperatures haven't cooperated.

ON the larger Peak 2 peak gondolas we were treated to an amazing view of a huge mountain glacier nearby and a river running underneath us. However, even in summer this time because of a rainstorm it was only 39 degrees up about 6 to 8000 feet in altitude so wear shoes or enclosed sandals or warm jackets or sweaters and hats if it is cloudy or raining like today even in the summer.