She lives nearby, and was encountered on a day hike this summer. A beautiful creature, she was following the same trail we were using to go through some rugged country up on the ridge a couple of miles from our house. It is a beautiful hike over rocky ridges and through thickets of Rhododendron. As we were resting after a short climb, Lizbeth said "Bear," and pointed.
She was about seventy feet away when we first saw her. Just ambling along sniffing and snuffling, looking for grubs and other things to eat. As she came closer I started taking pictures, and as she kept on coming we made some noise to let her know we were there. Grudgingly she stopped, turned once and then back, and kept coming. Again we shouted, waving our arms to give the appearance of being as big as she. She stopped again, but clearly we were on her trail and she had a schedule to keep with or without pesky hikers.
After deciding we had enough photos and that extreme closeups were probably a little foolhardy, (the photo below is enlarged and was taken with a zoom lens). So we moved off and she followed, as the trail was the best way through the outcroppings of rock and thickets.
It added a spring to our step and she followed for at least a quarter mile, before we lost sight of her.
This is what the area is like - a view of West Pond and the type of terrain where we met her.
This is a map of the area the bear was encountered on the loop towards the bottom of the map near the un-named pond west of Surprise Lake.
