Are there BEARS in those hills??

There are bears in them hills! Lot's of guest think we are joking when we say do not leave any food or trash outside the Lodges. Well I think it was the summer of 2007 when I received a panicked all while golfing. The guest on the other end was screaming that there was a huge brown bear below the porch of Summit Peaks North. I calmly asked if they remembered to use the dumpster for the trash and then there was a very long pause on the line... As it turns out the 300 Pounder was just hunting for scraps. That summer happened to be unusually dry so the crop of high mountain berries was sparse. You can see a photo of this omnivore on our web site. Actually In 20 years of Ownership, we have not had a wildlife injury to date. (thank God)

The closest to a real problem actually occurred just last summer at our family reunion. It just so happened that 30 family members converged on the North and South in mid June to make some memories. My wife and I were sharing the South Lodge Master bedroom when I got up for my morning run about 6am just be fore sunrise. Half asleep I stumbled down stairs. Only second after I opened the door a small animal run bye me into the house. My heart was racing as turned to identify the creature. To my surprise there was a football size baby raccoon trying to climb our wall as if it were a tree! The little rascal seemed disoriented and lonely. I grabbed thick fleece and gently wrapped around the little fur ball. I walked him about 100 yards back into the safety of the National Forest. It was reliving to see him scurry off to fine his parents! This is only incident of it’s like that I can recall! I believe the little guy was in fear for his life because this type of activity is not normal for wild animals.