Hike Pic

Here's a blurry pic from my hike today (the Rocky Mount hike in the Shenandoah National Park). I heard one bear but didn't see it, and had three bear glimpses--probably one bear glimpsed three times, but possibly two or even three distinct animals.

The pic isn't good, obviously, but it's the best one I've ever managed to get of a bear in the backcountry of the SNP--those suckers really light out when they see you. I was using my brand new Sigma 70-300 lens on my Canon digital rebel XT, and the light was too low and the bear was too fast for the autofocus + big lens. I got to see the bear sitting on his butt scratching his ears before he heard the shutter click and decided to take off, but--damn cute as it was--there was no way to get a decent pic of it.