I woke up early. Too early for the morning walk. It’s 8300 feet of elevation high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and I live in the middle of the woods. It’s dark with just a watercolor wash of grey pushing away the deep mountain night sky.
The sun doesn’t come up until well after 7 but I need to have my garbage totes in the road by 7 or risk them not being picked up. They have to be dragged down the small hill right before pickup because the bears have broken into them before despite the notes “bear resistant” claims.
At every other place I’ve lived, garbage involved pulling a wheeled tote out of the garage and moving it at most 100 feet to the curb. The night before.
For 7 months of the year in the mountains, black bears are in play. I don’t yet have a garage, so I keep the garbage totes at the bottom of our 420 foot driveway. The one “bear resistant” tote that hasn’t been destroyed by bears is triple chained to a large tree. I’ve learned to pour ammonia in the can to deter the bears. It works great. Unless I don’t put enough ammonia in the can.
This particular morning was a chilly 28 degrees. No breeze. I pulled on an extra pair of leggings and unplugged my hand warmers. Sufficiently bundled, I called my best buddy, Gus, and got him leashed. With the bear spray slung over my shoulder, we headed. out.
It was so dark that the motion sensor lights went on as we walked by. Couldn’t be helped. I announced our presence to the mountain and kept talking loudly all the way down the driveway. For some reason, I thought “Bear”. It was a good thought.
As we approached the end of the driveway, I saw movement ahead. It wasn’t deer. It was jet black and very furry and about 50 feet away. Respectable size. He looked at me. I looked at him. He turned and ambled down the hill and away from us. Alrightie. But there was still the trash to deal with.
Unchaining the can is no simple task and it’s impossible to accomplish with mittens on. No way I was setting Gus’s leash down with a bear that close. While keeping an eye open for the bear and holding Gus’s leash, I started to unchain the can. My hands were freezing and numb by the time the can was free. Thank good ness I love our morning walks. The mountains are so beautiful and peaceful and inspiring.
With the garbage cans in the road and my hand warmers bringing the feeling back into my fingers, we set off. Usually, we enjoy the sunrise and the various deer, birds, coyote, squirrel or fox that are about. Today, we still did; but I also kept looking behind me for that bear.
Once we were about 3/4 of a mile away from the bear, I stopped looking behind me and just enjoyed the morning. No day is ever the same and there is beauty all around. This is why I love it here