Back around 2000 I was living in Summit County Colorado and would hike out with 2 friends with nothing except bags and pads. 2-3 miles out lay down our stuff talk for a while, crash, wake in the morning, hike in, and get breakfast. One night we traded bear stories, of which I had none at the time. Early the next morning I wake to my friends in a commotion, sleeping bag zippers jiggling, yelling: "Get up! Bear!!!
I thought they were B.S.ing because of the night before to get a reaction out of me. After another 10 seconds of yelling I put my glasses on and looked. A 3 foot across bear butt was walking away from me about 20 feet away in the creek bed we camped next to. I have since realized that creeks can act as a kind of highway for animal traffic. Duh right? The bear didn't even look back or run. He just lumbered at the same pace not interested and thoroughly unimpressed. Awesome.