They were looking for camper food, the kind campers eat. If it were a grizzly I might have been the food. As it was, I had my food tied up in a bag, with about 30 feet of 1/8 inch of cord tied to it. At the other end of the cord I tied a rock of about similar weight and threw it over a tree branch about 15 feet up, one that would not support the weight of a bear. As I pushed the food up, the rock came down. I used a small fallen branch to push the food up til it was equal in height to the rock, too high for the bear to reach from the ground, and too far out to reach from the tree trunk. That didn't stop her from trying though. I could hear her climbing the tree. The tree was about 25 yards away from where I lay in my sleeping bag looking up at the night sky. As I was camping alone, it was just me against the bear, if push came to shove. Everything I had heard and read about black bears made me feel that I was not in any great danger as long as I did not threaten the cub.
When she couldn't get the food she grunted in what sounded to me like frustration. Then she climbed down the tree and started to approach me. I grabbed a flashlight and shined it in her direction. Behind her, as she approached, I saw the reflection of the cub's eyes peeping out from behind a fallen log. They glowed green in the light. The cub had what looked to me like an obvious fear expression of fear. But mama didn't seem concerned at all. She lumbered toward my camped and appeared as large auburn-colored shaggy hulk as she began slowly to circle me in my sleeping bag. I felt awe and electrified and slightly apprehensive, especially when I noticed that as she circled she got closer. That's when I grabbed a spoon and tin plate I had handy for just such a contingency. I started beating a rapid tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! as I had been instructed to do in some pamphlet or another available at the ranger station. I heard the cub make a mad dash through the brush, and thought, "Oh shit, I'm screwed!" But mama did not break her steady slow gait, and merely changed direction to follow her baby, and look for easier pickings across the Tuolumne River, where about 20 or 30 campers were staying at an official campground, which is where she was heading when she came across me.
Next morning after breakfast. I stashed everything in my backpack and headed across the river at a fordable spot heading for the 10,000 foot and above country. As I walked through the camp area I heard some people talking about their fellow campers who had lost their food to the two bears that came through last night and had to cut their trip short.
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He's a disaster. 
