Labor Day at the laundromat

©2015 Lydia Hinshaw

Wandering through a campsite

Inspecting a fire ring for food scraps

 WEST GLACIER, MT -- Laundromat duty is usually pretty boring, but I was lucky Monday because a friend was washing her clothes at the same time.  We were passing the time on a bench outside the laundry room when a young black bear ambled down the road, barely 30 feet away.

 I asked my friend to call the campground office, since I didn't have its number handy.  It's a good idea for the owners to know when there's a bear on the property, since bears can be dangerous.  I speed-dialed Prince Charming, who was back at our campsite, not far away but out of sight. His phone rang five times and then went to voice mail.  I tried again.  Ditto.

 For once, I had the van with me at the laundromat (I usually lug the dirty clothes up the hill on my back), therefore my camera was handy.  I maintained a safe distance, and began shooting.  He was prowling an area of empty cabins, searching for the odd food scrap or juicy berry in the wooded campground.

  Since it was Labor Day afternoon, there weren't many campers around, although most of the campground staff turned up to watch and tried to haze the bear into the adjacent woods.

 That worked briefly.  The staff left, and I put my camera back in the bus.  But soon the bear was back, and I got the camera out again.

 He wandered uphill through empty campsites, checking fire-rings carefully for anything tasty.  At one point, he noticed me and it was clear he was not happy.

 Time for me to finish up this little photo project.  The bear headed deeper into the campground instead of out of it.  I went back and moved wet clothes into the dryer.

 When everything was dry, I loaded up and drove back to our campsite, where I found the Prince sprawled in his camp chair, sound asleep.  He hadn't heard his phone.

 Maybe he'll stay around and help me with the laundry next time.