I woke up in the middle of the night hearing Jim say “Get out of here”. I got up and went into the living room to see who he was talking to. He told me there was a bear in the window that had climbed halfway into the living room. When Jim yelled at it, the bear backed up and retreated.
Jim had heard a noise of an animal on the deck and it had woken him up. He laid in bed for a minute trying to decide what animal it was. When he heard a screen tear he got up and came out to see who was there. I slept through the whole thing and didn’t get the see the bear.
The bear tore two screen windows off and tore a gash down the screen door leading into the kitchen. There are bear claw marks on the window sill of the window he climbed in.
Jim called security and they came up and drove around with their spot light but didn’t see the bear.
Jim ended up staying up all night in case the bear came back. I got up at 4:30 and took over bear watch duty so Jim could get a bit of sleep. Hopefully tonight will be less of an adventure and we will both sleep all night.
Today we had to stay home so the maintenance people could repair the damage. Most of the locks on the cabin windows didn’t work so they either fixed them or made wood stops so we can sleep tonight knowing the bear can’t get back in.
We had a pass to go into RMNP at 2:00 this afternoon but didn’t make it. It felt more important to bear proof the cabin!
I took five calls on the Crisis Hot Line last night. They were getting really busy at the end of my shift but I was tired so went ahead and logged off. For some reason we have been busier the last three weeks. I’ve handled almost as many calls these last three weeks as I did the two months before that.
I went over and did laundry this afternoon since we were stuck at home. Jim stayed at the cabin and handled the repair guys. Someone from Wildlife called and talked to Jim to get the story. I guess there has been three other bear break ins in the camp over the last several weeks.
The outcome could have turned very serious quickly last night. Grateful the bear backed out and no real harm was done.
I cooked some chicken today and am going to make chicken pot pie for dinner in a bit. It took longer than usual for the chicken to get done.
My dear friends from the Camino FaceTime with me today. It is always fun to talk to them and catch up. They are doing well and have avoided the virus so far.
Tomorrow evening some friends from KS are coming in to stay for four or five nights. It will be fun to have them here. I’m hoping we will get out and take a hike tomorrow to make up for not getting to take one today. Maybe we will get out yet today and walk around the grounds for a bit.
It was an eventful night. I had commented to Jim after our hike yesterday that we hadn’t seen any wildlife. Guess they decided to come to us!
Grateful the bear backed out without hurting Jim, grateful repairs are being made so our cabin will feel safe tonight, and grateful to have gotten to talk to my Camino friends.