Dave sent me the link to this pretty darned amazing story about a bear who was crossing the Rainbow Bridge near Donner Summit, got spooked by some oncoming cars, and jumped over the edge. Somehow instead of plunging to its death, it managed to clutch on to a concrete beam underneath the bridge, dangled for a while by its front paws, pulled itself up somehow, and scrambled onto the beam.

Where it was royally stuck, with nowhere to go but down. And down was an 80-foot drop into a ravine strewn with boulders. Needless to say, it stayed put where it was, and eventually fell asleep on its narrow perch.

The next day a group of volunteers led by an animal control officer executed a seriously cool rescue mission. Whew.

You’ve got to check out the photos. It looks absolutely inevitable that that bear is a goner, and yet it all ends happily. Just amazing.