My bear encounter (not for the weak)

[7rider]

Oh. My. Freakin'. Lord!!!
I am so glad you both held it together. I suppose a little bird shot in the face of a 12 foot grizzly is no more annoying than a few mosquitos. The loss of a couple of brants was a small price to pay, and I wonder if that cake lasted more than the amount of time it took to cool. Can you say "nervous nibbling"?
Man!
That is one for the records.
(and folks wonder why I don't want to move up to our regional office in Juneau - sheesh!)

[mtbdarby]

Amber YOU ROCK! Way to keep your cool girl. Sure makes my black bear in the back yard seem like childs play, geezh.

I saw the Treadwill bit as well. Dude wasn't right. Although he was an expert on the bears, he lived dangerously around them. From what I've read, this would NOT be the time of year to be purposely getting close to them.

Thread hijack - anyone see Men in Trees this week? I thought of you up there Amber. Maybe I need to come visit

[chickwhorips]

Amber YOU ROCK! Way to keep your cool girl. Sure makes my black bear in the back yard seem like childs play, geezh.

I saw the Treadwill bit as well. Dude wasn't right. Although he was an expert on the bears, he lived dangerously around them. From what I've read, this would NOT be the time of year to be purposely getting close to them.

Thread hijack - anyone see Men in Trees this week? I thought of you up there Amber. Maybe I need to come visit

didjaknow that brown bears will kill a black bear. thats why you never see them together.

what is "Men in Trees" about? haven't even heard of it.

[mtbdarby]

Men in Trees - a new show about Alaska (CBS or ABC, regular night will be Fridays). A female "relationship expert" goes there to give a lecture and on the flight out there discovers she has taken her fiance's laptop instead of hers. As she looks through the pictures of them on the computer she comes across him smooching another woman - someone she knows! So when she gets to Alaska (don't remember the city), she gets licquored up before her talk, blows the talk, goes back and gets liquored up, tells the bar folk about her life, discovers she's surrounded by men, and decides to stay to write the third book she was gonna call "I'm getting married and so can you". My guess is, it will now be called "Men in Trees". As she was walking down the sidewalk she almost gets hit with a pine tree branch. She looks up and sees two guys trimming said tree and looks back to the sidewalk to see a sign "Men in Trees"..

Within her first few days, she discovers a racoon in her room eating her designer shoes, then her expensive wedding dress, borrows a "ride" (an old bike!) and rides around the gorgeous countryside, takes off in search of a pack of cigs and ends up falling through the ice (rescued by some ruggedly handsome guy who warms her up for the night). I'm getting it's about getting back to being happy with who you are, simplifying your life, and enjoying the beauty in this world, which really appealed to me. Of course, being in a town with a bunch of cute guys would be ok too! Check it out if you get a minute and tell us how accurate it really is.

All I could think about after the show (I was trying on my new leg warmers I had just got ) was if I went to Alaska what would I pack? What cycling clothes (layers), which bike (Baloo, the mtb), jeans, sweaters, take the dogs or not, etc. Guess I could be ready to visit you on short notice!!

[ladyfish]

CWR--glad to hear you both are OK. We have a friend who lives in Alaska and when he was down here for a school, he and my DH went to the shooting range. My husband told Dave "you are the only guy I know who actually NEEDS a 457 magnum!". (Because of the bears).

Stay safe, and good luck with the hunt for fresh veggies!

[maillotpois]

WOW! Amazing story. Glad you are both okay. Those animals are so fast and powerful and - yikes!!

On the hunting thing: My paralegal's BF lives in Alaska (she used to live there and is desperate to move back). Anyway, he also hunts for food - everyone does there, as you know. So no biggie.

[chickwhorips]

i'm gonna have to check out this "men in trees" show. sounds interesting.

i hate to burst anyone's bubble about the men here. they aren't all that cute (a few far and between). its actually hard for gals in anchorage to get a date. i know my friend karie has been trying for a while, and you thought lise's experiences were interesting. sheesh!

[mary9761]

I am so glad you two made it back alive to tell the tale I'm not sure how I would have handled the same situation. I'm so glad I don't live anywhere with dangerous wildlife. Dangerous Wild LIFE is bad enough around here..
And I also say no worries about the hunting. I know that living up there in the wilds you aren't hunting for trophies. You have to eat and if you can get your own food, you save money.