I wish I had seen it — Rol
July 1 The Bear Story
This is a little out of sequence, but Uncle Jim mentions bears and we actually had a visit from a black bear on June 6. Nellie and I came up on Monday morning (Uncle Jim had just left on Saturday night). When we arrived, we found the barbeque grill thrown across the yard, tank and all and a fry pan was nearby. We were trying to think what kind of creature could do that (or why) when I went around on the deck and found a big pile of animal scat. Hmmm, what kind of animal? After getting out our trusty animal tracking guide book, we came to the conclusion that it must have been a black bear! Since we’ve never seen such a creature in all 35 years coming to the Ponderosa, I was pretty excited! There was no other damage to the cabin and we couldn’t find any tracks, so we really couldn’t confirm our findings positively until the next day when we took the scat to the rangers (Ron Kay) at Zion Park. He and another naturalist positively identified it as BLACK BEAR! Since there haven’t been any spotted in Zion for a long time, this was exciting for everyone.
The next day chief naturalist Ron Terry tol me a scoutmaster had spotted a bear in East Zion so the plot thickened. The following week I was in Zion for a meeting of the Zion Natural History Association (I’m a board member) and Terry told me he had photos of the bear. They said it was either an adult male or female and probably wandered down from the high country because of all the snow still up there. It hasn’t been seen again since, so they think he went back up to the mountains again. We put a little carved bear on the table in the big cabin as a memorial to the event.
Roland July 1, 2005
-Painted the outhouse green
– Dismantled the old Birdhouse
July 2nd, 2005
It has been a busy year but we finally made it up the mountain to the cabin. We were welcomed by a sign on the front door that saud “Welcome to Cabin Camp.” Grandma and Grandpa Lee had a great itinerary planned out for the kids including arts and crafts, a treasure hunt, nature hikes, and an Independence Day parade. The kids are having a blast. It may be the only chance we have this summer to enjoy the cabin. Travis is 6 years old and will start the first grade in a month or two. Alyssa is our little ballerina girl and loves to act much older than her 4 year old self. Hannah is nearly 3 years old and is quite bossy, I think there is some dutch blood creeping in. This was the first trip to the cabin for 2 ½ month old baby Max. He was a good boy and slept most of the time and enjoyed his baby swing (battery powered). Dad and I walked the boundaries of our property and tried to mark it a little better. There is definitely plenty of elbow room and privacy on the 6 acre property. It was nice to just enjoy the cabin for a change. We did not have any construction projects or repair jobs to do this trip. Maybe next time.
Jon & Jolynn Lee & Travis, Alyssa, Hannah and Max
[Picture of the bear]