A visitor from the UK reached out to book a nature tour with us. What tour, exactly, was up to us but most of it is custom anyway. In this case the guest hoped to see a black bear. She knew this was very unlikely — that is the reality — but we tried. First stop was the Mahoosuc-Success Gateway WMA, a rather new Wildlife Management Area consisting of over 15,000 acres. We knew there was a recent bear sighting there (see 4/19/24 image inset) so if our guest was up for some potentially tough bushwhacking, it was a place to start. The team tried but gave up after a while. It was definitely wild out there and they did see animal sign, but did not get to see a bear.
They then made our way to Appalachia knowing there can be activity around the Link Trail. While Cold Brook Fall looked stunning (see below), they failed to spot a bear there. As the day was wrapping up they completed a circuit to include Crawford Notch and made a couple stops there: Elephant Head just because and one stop at the Willey House as we have seen bear further up the Saco from there. Not on this day, unfortunately. Leading this tour was Redliine Guide Mike Cherim.
