second attempt

September 1–3, 2018 — my second hike into the Fisht reserve. This is where, in fact, what I had been heading toward for so long finally happened. I met a bear — and not just once. But let’s take it in order… It all started from the same place as last time, back in 2016 — from the stanitsa of Guzeripl. From the very beginning, I started asking everyone I met how often tourists were encountering bears this year and exactly where. The ticket seller, for instance, and the woman at the canteen where I stopped to eat before entering the reserve, both told me that this season there were especially many bears. And not just bears, but all kinds of other wildlife too…

One of the entrances to the reserve. The entrance that leads you to the dolmens. I, however, took the other path…

A heavy rain started half an hour after my foot stepped into the protected zone. The whole way, I was busy visualizing my goal — I pictured the image of a bear before me, how it would approach me, how we would stand facing each other on some cliff, how I would look it straight in the eyes…

After several hours of walking along an asphalt road, I reached the first shelter — Partizansky — just before the entrance to the reserve itself… Inside me, two opposing forces were simultaneously active. Roughly speaking, they could be called will and reason. I’d call will a feeling — with it, I directed my intention, holding the state of “no matter what.” Reason, on the other hand, resisted this madness…

It was raining. My phone got wet — I tucked it under my rain jacket, but condensation still caught up with it…