Anna and I stopped for lunch on a nice sandy beach. We look to hide from the wind behind a tall rock. We had been paddling for more than four hours and enjoyed the thought of resting our bodies for a bit. As we unpacked our cheese and crackers and started cutting the salami I hear a noise in the direction behind Anna who is leaning against the rock. Not sure if it was the wind in the leaves or the waves lapping at the shore I lean on the rock to help my self up. Half way up, my head pears over the rock and with a surprise I am looking at an incredibly large brown massive head that belongs to a huge grizzly bear no more than 20 feet away walking straight towards us. The first thing out of my mouth was “oh god” and my feet start spinning in the sand as I grab the bear spray and try to get to my feet. Anna, confused by my exclamations, stands up to see what I’m making such a commotion about. As both of us look over the rock, the bear lifts his head, sees us and appears to be just as surprised as I was. It runs the other way with its bushy hair bouncing back and forth and gravel flying. It hits the brush and the forest comes alive with destruction as the bear pushes it’s way through.
Anna and I look at each other and look back at the forest right behind us and say “that was a big bear.” “Well lunch is over” Anna says, “yep I’m good,” I say right back with a smile. We grab our food and slowly walk back to the boats that the bear had ran past mere minutes before. We feel there is not enough room between the forest and the water, being that it is high tide and a small beach, to feel comfortable to continue eating. We pack our kayaks, one person keeps an eye on the trees for movement while the other loads. We are comfortable with bears and most bears we have encountered run the other way but this was an incredibly large bear and there will be other beautiful beaches to dine on just around the corner. As we paddle away we laugh and recount what happened and I tell Anna that the crackers are no longer crackers they are crumbs.