Bearly Hanging In There...

From the photo, things don't look too good – but this story has a happy ending. Here's the beginning:

According to the Truckee BEAR League’s Dave Baker, a medium-sized bear jumped the railing of Rainbow Bridge, a 100-foot concrete arch near Donner Summit, on Saturday afternoon.

“The bear was crossing the bridge as cars were coming from the east and west,” said Baker. “[The cars] pinched the bear up and over the guard rail.”

The bear apparently jumped to avoid the cars, then found itself trapped in the concrete girders beneath the highest point of the bridge from 3 p.m. Saturday until its eventual rescue at noon Sunday.

“I’ve been on a lot of bear rescues, and this is the most intense bear call that I’ve been on,” Baker said.

One of the first on the scene, Baker said he saw claw marks etched into the concrete railing where the bear leaped and then scrambled for a secure hold to prevent falling about 80 feet.

You can read the whole story (and see more photos) here and here. This all took place on 9/15/2007.