Payette River

If you look real close you'll notice that this bear's back hair is standing straight up. He was in our camp on the first morning of our 4 day climbing trip and a day later, tore up a pack we thought we had stashed well. On our last day he just wouldn't go away so my friend Carl cooked up what he thought was a solution. He took a few slices of old bread, a lot of honey and half a can of cayenne pepper and made him a pancake. We placed it on a tree stump and it didn't take him but a half an hour to find his treat. A few minutes later he came crashing out of the brush with a mouthful of leaves and his hair standing on end. We tried to scare him away by running at him and waving our ice axes "bush beater" style but it didn't work. He stood up, charged us and a foot race broke out, no one wanting to be the "slow" one in the group. He bluffed and turned away but would not leave so we hastily packed under his watchful eye and got the hell out of there. South Fork Payette River, Sawtooth NRA, Idaho