Ee-tee-hoo'

My goal is to travel around the western U.S. and Canada to parks and wild areas where black bears and grizzly bears live--maybe even up to northern Canada to polar bear territory! Even if I don't actually see any bears, it would still make me happy to visit those places, because I'll know that my bear cousins are there even if I can't see them. Eventually, I would like to return to northern California and rejoin my friends in Yosemite.

My name is Ee-tee-hoo', and I am from Yosemite National Park.

I'm named after a brave little bear in the Miwok legend Two Bear Cubs. The story tells how Ee-tee-hoo' (pronounced "ay-tay-ho") and his elder brother Tah'-chee ("taw-chay") were playing one day in the beautiful Ah-wah'-nee valley (which we now call Yosemite Valley) when they fell asleep on top of a large, flat boulder.

While they were sleeping, the boulder grew and grew until it became the giant granite wall we know as El Capitan. The cubs were now stranded high above the valley! But a determined measuring worm named Tu-tok-a-na climbed the huge rock to rescue them. You can read the whole story of Ee-tee-hoo' and Tah'-chee in the book Two Bear Cubs (Yosemite Association), or you can listen to it at Read Me a Book.

As mentioned above, I want to travel to places where my bear cousins live. I also really like to meet children! And if you have any pets who won't eat me, I'd like to meet them, too. I would love it if you would take photos of me visiting different places, people, and animals, and post your photos on my web page.

If you have me now because you've taken me from a geocache, please put me in another cache as soon as possible. I'm eager to continue my adventures! Thank you!