Friday, May 27, 2005 -- 5:26 PM

The hell of it was that there really was a bear warning. We all saw the signs and commented on them when we drove in through the dark, and in the morning we saw the trap near the park entrance on the walk to the showers, so they were serious. It was something neither of us took seriously until we were in the back country. It was funny, walking through the forest, how everything was changed. Really, the campsite was still civilization for us, nothing like this back country. We climbed steadily towards the mountain with the yellow sign ready in our minds and we stopped more than once when we heard something moving in the brush. The higher we got the worse for our nerves, as we didn't figure the elk that were rampant in these parts would climb this high. It was something that was joked at though, until we'd been walking for an hour and we heard the roar. Not an elk, we were so sure of that, and we were both scared. The only thing was to keep walking and our pace quickened. Of course it wouldn't be a grizzly, only a black bear who would be more scared of us, but it was different out there. Bear is really bear, not a curiosity.

If it wasn't for that roar we'd probably never had made it to the trail up Whistler's, it was the roar and the frenchman that did it. We found the trail and couldn't believe we'd made it that far, and Keith was sure he heard a car door slam, so we walked down to the parking lot. Civilization again, just like that, and the bear was a bad dream. There was a tourist sign at the parking lot that said it was a 5 1/2 hour hike to the top, and you could take the tram down again for ten dollars. We were pretty knackered though, and our water was quite low, but Keith was energetic. He was sure it couldn't be 5 1/2 hours, that's bullshit. That's senior citizen and japanese tourist time. Look, we'll ask this guy.
"No problem, only an hour to the top," Said Frenchie. "An hour and a half tops. I have done it before, don't even worry about."
"Fuck sakes, that's nothing. We've been walking from the campground. The only thing is, our water is low."
"There is water at the top also. We can give you juice at the top."
"What about the view? Is it worth it?"
"Fucking right."
We were already decided and starting up. Only an hour's hike when we've come two hours this far and a spectacular view from the top and plenty of water. We could take the tram down even. We've just come too damn far to turn around.

This hurts my brain to type. Maybe I'll finish it later. I'm Ron Burgundy?