Never run from a bear….unless you are faster than the other people around!
So, we arrived here in Jasper National Park ready for a lot of great hiking. Thanks to a book Andy McConville bequeathed to me when he left Core Lab ‘Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies’ we were prepared. Thanks, Andy. So we started on a day hike to a place called Sulfur Ridge near the hot springs. We hadn’t been walking 5 minutes when two women walking towards us practically jumped out of their skin and start running at a high rate of speed down the path towards us. Now, people always say ‘Never run from a bear’ and I consider it pretty sound advice. They say it provokes their predatory instinct. I know with Molly if a cat runs from her she chases after it as fast as she can. If a cat doesn’t run, she sniffs it curiously and usually walks away. Now, if I was sure a bear meant me harm I might run anyway but as long as it is minding it’s own business I’m not going to provoke the bear by running, or doing anything else to irritate it. So when the women ran by and we asked them what was wrong and they responded ‘bear’. I said, “well, you probably shouldn’t run”, especially as they were running right towards us who didn’t know what was going on. If the bear had been chasing them they would have brought it right to us, who would have had no choice then but to try and outrun them and hope they got eaten instead of us. Of course, the bear wasn’t chasing them, so Dave and I continued slowly up the path making a lot of noise so as not to surprise the bear. We thought it might move off the path so we could continue on. As we got closer we saw the bear, who took an aggressive attitude right away. Then we saw her cub, such a cute little guy, scurry up the tree next to her! So, we yielded the path and went back down, walking slowly down the path backwards to keep an eye on her. When we got down the women said ‘Did you see the bear?’ And we told them, yes we had seen her and her cub. They then proceeded to lecture us on how running was actually the correct response. Have you ever noticed when people are killed by bears it’s usually in Canada? I think now we know why!
Isn’t that the cutest!
Grrr! Mad mamma bear who will rip your guts out.
Tags: North, to Alaska
Sissy
Well I guess you no longer miss your bears!!! they are kind of are like sharks, fun to see, but a little scary if it’s just you and them. But what great storys to tell in your old age (if you live through it). Be carefull out there. Love Dad.