Guess who I saw this weekend? →[More:]

We went camping** in Tahoe this weekend. It's salmon-spawning time, so the creek near the campground was full of lethargic, horny fish. I got up early Saturday morning (35 degrees and windy!) to go sit by the creek. After about an hour's wait, this big guy wandered out of the aspens and started fishing.

The Forest Service had a fence strung across the creek so that the salmon couldn't go any farther upstream. Mr. Bear sat there by the fence and plucked salmon from the water as they struggled against the weir. After catching one, he'd lay down and chew on it like a dog with a bone. (The fence made for easy fishing but bad photography -- some of the shots look like they were taken in a zoo. Also, it wasn't my camera. It was a borrowed camera with batteries that had to be removed and warmed every three or four pictures. The photos are depressingly grainy. Boo.)

I watched him for about 30 minutes, by which point a huge crowd had gathered. About 30-40 people followed him as he moseyed down the creek. He didn't care a whit about the people; his only interest was fish and more fish.

Finally some noisy motorcycles passed on the highway. He looked over his shoulder, frowned, and ambled off back into the trees.

**It was supposed to be a 3-day camping trip, but news of the coming cold front kept getting more and more concerning. We packed up on the second day and moved to a hotel. It was a good thing we did -- the predicted two inches of snow turned out to be eight. Not sure the tent would have survived the weight -- let alone the 60mph winds.