Just checking in! I hope you are having a great holiday season! After all the nonsense and scary stuff life has thrown at me, this is one of the happiest Christmas times I have had in my life. I have a lot to be grateful for.
So one night not too long ago my brother and I heard something bigger wandering around outside at night. We are used to having squirrels, chipmunks, and Steller's jay birds outside. In this case, we could hear something during the night. Then when it snowed I saw tracks outside of a bigger animal. Originally, we thought it could be a bear, but based on the tracks it was a smaller creature. So, I baited it with some popcorn and did a stakeout that night. It took about forty-five minutes after dark for it to show up:
It was a fox! We were really shocked about this. A fox is common in the High Sierra, but I have never seen one here before. 
I did walk into two bears cubs, a mother, and two other bears about a week before this picture. They were drinking from a stream at the end of a canyon at around 7am. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera(s), and it would have been a low light situation anyways. It got kind of pathetic because two of the bears were really scared of me, but kept walking along the human trail which I had to use to continue. Then at the bridge where there is a public camping area, I had a stand off with one of the bears. He stood up and turned around on me! It would have been the perfect picture. At this point, I found a way to walk around the bear so it could be in peace.
Have a great New Year! I will have something to say at the beginning of 2022..
