I used to go backpacking a lot before I fucked up my back, but I never saw a bear. However, when I was a kid, my family took a trip through Appalachia and when we were driving in one of the parks, we kept whining, "Daddy, I want to see a bear," and Dad was like, "Kids, it's not going to happen. There aren't that many bears and they probably don't hang out by the road." And then a few minutes later a little bear (it must not have been very old) ran across the road. It was magical.