In 56 years a Coloradan, I never saw a bear in the wild.  That changed in a hurry when we set out for Alaska by way of British Columbia.  In two months I went from zero to 18.  A longer stay in Hyder promised more interesting encounters.  According to a local, there was a bear trail through the middle of town, and bears sometimes stopped cars to lick smashed bugs off the license plates.  We walked a boardwalk along a stream where we would have seen bears fishing–almost close enough to touch–if the salmon had been running, but our timing was off there too.  I don’t know why Steve was so anxious to move on…