A friend from Haines sent her car down to Juneau for service, and this morning we put the car back on the ferry to get it back to her. I drove out our only highway from downtown to the ferry terminal. No one was going my way at all, and I passed only a handful of cars heading to town. Early am or not, this is not the usual during a non-pandemic, cruise ship filled summer. As I neared Lemon Creek, I saw something black moving out in the grass a couple hundred yards from the road. Two young black bears were sparing in the early morning quiet.
After I put the car on the ferry, Sara picked me up for the ride home, a couple miles from the ferry, another bear strolled across the road. Then it squatted wayyyyy down on all fours to squeeze under the guard rail, then sauntered up the bike path.