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

[Kitsune06]

oh so now you tell me that. could've told me that before.

Pff. I did tell you, but I forget what it was in reference (reverence) to. I think it was when you were telling me about work.

[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.

[slinkedog]

it was super scary. still makes me weak in the knees when i think about it all. i don't look out the window the same way i use to, thats for sure.

bubba got fake duck and fake brant (actually fake duck that was painted to look like fake brant) and also real brant. he was fat and happy.

it is really hard to get veggies here. we have new owners at the store and the veggie supply isn't there. we get good veggies when someone from town comes in and hand carries it. veggies here are worth more than gold. i scrounge around for roughage. found some high fiber bars that help.

we didn't have a camera (if we did it would've been left behind in the bags) but i did have someone at work ask me if i got pictures. i definatly wouldn't have had to use the zoom feature!

slinkedog no chickens here. bears would probably get them. though we are testing other birds (brant and pintails and steller's eiders) for the avian flu. so if the bears and the avian flu don't get me, who knows what will.

Oh, I meant do you live near Chicken, Alaska.

[SouthernBelle]

& I thought the possums and skunks at my house were exciting. But no big bubba bears here!

Glad you are safe, sound, and full of chocolate.

[chickwhorips]

And don't apologize for hunting. Most folks in Alaska do and I know its for meat not sport. I've never condemn the act of hunting but will condemn the sport and methods of some. If the animal is killed humanely no complaints. If torture is involved, then its wrong. Good hunters never torture their animals.

thank you. there are some people that i've come across that don't understand hunting and get offended and think i'm trying to do bad things or i'm a bad person. we have a bunch of "sport hunters" in town right now. now them i would love to personally give a lecture to and a good swift kick in the shin.

Oh, I meant do you live near Chicken, Alaska.

didn't even know of the place till now. they are in the interior part of alaska. you can actually drive there by car, here you can't drive anywhere except to nowhere. we are the last city on the peninsula before the aleutian islands start. we are waaaaaaaaaay out here.

anyone is more than welcome to come visit. i'll show you a "real alaskan experience".

[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!

[slinkedog]

I loved the quote, referring to men outnumbering women, "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."

[snapdragen]

I loved the quote, referring to men outnumbering women, "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."

You beat me to it! Yup, I heard that a few times when I was up there.

[cherinyc]

whoa chickie!!! I've always played things like that out in my mind, but I have no idea how I would react if it actually happened. BF and I went for a hike on the Appalachian trail back in May, and some hikers while passing, told us there was a bear up ahead. (In the NE we have black bears, not as big as Grizzlies). I couldn't wait to see it, but was of course a little afraid.
and...then I was disappointed when we never saw it. I was looking over my shoulder the whole rest of the time - thinking that maybe it was stalking us.
Sheesh.....

In my trully honest opinion, you should tweek your story a bit - and send it to Backpacker Mag or Adventure or something. I LOVE that part of the magazine where people tell there adventure stories, and the fact that you are a woman makes it even better. The stories that are in there most of the time are from men. Let me know if you want any help finding a magazine's contact name or anything (if you decide to submit it).

SOOOO glad you are both ok!!!!!! I am raising my glass of Merlot..to you.
BTW - maybe there are ways to ship veggies to you?