Here is one of the entrance to the bear cave under the erratic........
stones, rocks, boulders & erratics
nice shoots - how do you know it is a bear cave?
Years ago when we came across it, it had lots of distinctive bear scat in and around it. Hank is quite knowledgeable on identifying various scat. I've gotten fairly good at it over the years we've spent in the woods. I loved snowshoeing when we spent winters up here, because it was very easy to ID what animals had been through the area - as well as the bird and bunny tracks.
Wow - Louise, these are great! How long of a hike was this? Tell Hank thanks for taking the pictures and I'm glad the bear wasn't around to give him a tour. Is this any where near where all the trees were taken down? I hope not, and I hope it stays swallowed by the forest.
You two really have the best of both worlds. It's so great that you get out there and enjoy all the land has to offer. I can just tell this is years worth of exploring.
saw a lot of bear scat at baxter - never saw the culprits though
Thanks, Nance. I told Hank what you said and he sends you and Bill a hello. When the logging was going on, we were very concerned about this place, but luckily, it was not in the 150 acres that were timbered. It is quite close to that area, however. From our house it is a bit over a mile into the thick woods to that site. It is still quite hard to find, and Hank said there were so many flies buzzing around the cave that it was clear something had been using it recently. We once found a maple sugaring pit out in that area, but we haven't been able to find it recently. If you don't know what you are doing, you can really get lost out there. Hank takes a compass always, but it is still tricky. Somewhere we have a photo of the sugaring pit. It had large flat granite foundation stones on each side of the pit and a crude grate between the stones. Fascinating. There is a Currier & Ives print called "Maple Sugaring..." that shows a similar type of set -up in the woods.
They were lucky today too, Bill. We often see bears around here, and there was a symphony of coyotes back there last night. I hate that sound they make when they have cornered an animal. It just goes all over me.
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Great shots Bill & all. Great stories too.
Jax, you will be about 25 minutes from me in Portland. I need to check out that mine!