June 20, 2022

It was a beautiful spring day at Lake Tahoe. We had a particularly cold spring with lots of wind and by the 20th of June, I was ready to not see snow flying any longer. This day, although mostly cloudy, was not too windy, so I set out for a mellow ride on my Half-Arabian horse, Bandit.

We turned off a dirt road into a small forest trail, admiring the fresh lupine blooming, the lilac scent rising from the heavy pine-needle covered ground. I breathed in deeply and smiled. I actually call this the Lupine Trail, even though the trails through the park aren’t named, but we’ve come up with descriptive names, such as the Milk Barn Trail, the Green Trail, the Bridges Trail, and have named locations as landmarks such as the Quarry, the Big Meadow, the creek and the river, the golf course, the river crossing, Willow Lane, etc.

Today, the lupine were in full bloom. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. The heavenly scent is sweet, almost intoxicating. Overhead, the large white cumulus clouds floated lazily against the backdrop of a brilliant blue sky that it close enough to touch at 6,500 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

I and Bandit were only out from the barn for about a mile, when my reverie of springtime in the mountains was suddenly interrupted as my horse slammed on the brakes. Even though we were just slowly ambling along to admire nature’s bounty, the sudden stop lurched me forward and forced my nature-infused addled brain to become instantly alert.

Looking up, I saw a small flash of movement. Figuring it was a coyote, I waited where Bandit had stopped for the critter to come out from behind a larger granite boulder nestled in the forest floor among the gently swaying fir and pine trees.

We waited a few moments but there was no further sight of movement among the shadows and light of the forest floor.

I precede to continue my ride, still in awe of the total explosion of riotous purples and greens as far down the trail as I could see.
Not a moment later, however, I saw what I had thought was a coyote, now only to have in full view a tiny critter bouncing around, frolicking in an opening in the forest that begrudgingly allowed a shaft of sunlight to illuminate that special spot. But Wait! Another brown dot and yet a third bounded into view. Wow! Three baby bears!

Suddenly, the Momma bear became aware that some other energy was intent upon her. She rose up on her back legs to full height, waving her huge paws in the air as if to challenge me to a boxing duel. As if on cue, instantly the three tiny cubs each scrambled up the closest tree. Luckily, there were lots of small pine that were easy for the cubs to negotiate.

All this scrambling action sent my horse (gotta love Arabs) into a mighty tizzy. He spun 180 degrees to flee, convinced he was going to be LUNCH. I had to grab the reins–because I had actually dropped the reins on my horse’s neck to grab my phone to capture this super cute event unfolding right in from of me–and had to try to pull him into an immediate circle lest he bolted straight back to the barn and leave me to be LUNCH.

I slowly backed Bandit away about 10 – 15 feet and then stopped off the trail because I really wanted to snap a picture or a video. The babies were too darn cute!

But I wasn’t about to challenge Momma bear, even though she is a California Black Bear which is typically not aggressive, unless, of course, the momma feels that you are threatening her cubs. I didn’t want to force the babies to run for their lives or have to climb a tree again. Even though they are perfectly capable, it does take added energy from tiny bodies and I just didn’t want to stress out the kiddos.

I made Bandit just stand there (tough for him as a prey animal), and I quietly waited to see if they would amble on so I could continue down the trail on my peaceful ride.

It took a few minutes for momma bear to relax and continue on her way. However, the kids had not come out of each of their three trees yet, so mom decided the warm shaft of sun on the forest floor looked like an ideal place for an afternoon nap. She laid back against a fallen log, splayed her body out in perfect lawn chair fashion, and proceeded to pat her belly and invite her kids out of the trees for a snack break.

Before the three tiny cubs managed to slip and slide down their respective tree trunks, to my utter amazement, momma bent down, grasped her own teat and took a few long sips! My jaw dropped! I’ve never seen this, not even in the super-close-up wild nature films that capture every nuance of a family like this!

I really wished I had been close enough to film it, but it was time for me to go and leave the little family to enjoy their afternoon in a little sunny glade in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.