sitting in the passenger seat I bet old Samson is posing for the tourists again Are you ready for a little adventure Cricket A bear jam could be a big problem Tourists loved spotting all the wildlife in the national park Deer and goats wandered through the village every day Moose crashed through the campground And a single bear beside the road could stop traffic for miles Warden McKay slowed down when they turned onto Crandell Mountain Road It was a skinny rough road that twisted and turned through the hills There were places for drivers to pull over to take pictures of the scenery But in a bear jam people parked anywhere in the ditches on the grass and even in the middle of the road 2
Sure enough the road ahead was jammed with vehicles Tourists leaned out of car windows and stood to look through sunroofs Everyone had a camera in hand Everyone was looking up the hill Warden McKay turned on the truck’s big orange strobe lights and pulled far off the road to park He hopped out before Cricket could undo her seat belt He shook his head Promise me you’ll stay in the truck he said I can help Dad C’mon I’ll be in fourth grade in a few weeks Not this time I can’t be worried about you while I try to get these people back into their cars Cricket sighed As she sat in the truck a little black bear cub tumbled out of the bushes beside the road 4
He stood up and looked at the crowd of people Everyone please get back into your cars Warden McKay ordered trying to get the traffic unsnarled But the tourists kept snapping pictures On the other side of the road Cricket saw a large bush move A long black nose poked out Then a furry head with round ears It was the mother bear
