Another senior oops

I felt a bit wobbly on my feet as I stepped onto the gravel road from the gravel path along the creek. I saw there was a butterfly bush that I wanted to take some photos of.  And I slowly put my feet down one by one, and walked across the gravel road, then got my camera app on the phone and tried to point at some of the bees and butterflies. But because the light was shining on the screen, I wasn't sure I captured anything much.

Then I saw a pinkish cast on one end of the bushes, and wondered if it was a different bush entirely, and walked a couple of steps toward it.  Still taking photos, I heard some people's voices in the distance. I hadn't seen a soul on my half hour of walking around and taking photos.  And out of the corner of my eye I noticed a big black dog downhill on the same side of the road as I was, and thought that was nice people were taking their dog for a walk.  It was just about where Elizabeth Trail goes up off of the gravel road.

I took my remaining 2 photos, then walked in the direction the "dog" had been, and realized it had been a small bear. There were no people visible on the path. Duh. I looked in all directions to see if it was still around. But it must have thought I wasn't interesting, because I couldn't find a trace of it.  By then I was really apprehensive, and glad to go straight to my car.

There hadn't been another person in the woods, though there were 2 other cars in the parking lot.  And some swimming gear (mask, children's shoes, a towel and a shirt) spread out on a rock near the parking lot. They could have been left there since yesterday.

So between feeling wobbly and the adrenaline of just supposing a bear was a big dog, I had to go get some lunch right then. I wasn't in any hurry, though almost all the rest of the traffic was.  I was just glad that I was alive.