bear - oh my

[Nanci]

I hate and fear bears. I had a three-bear-run-in vacation in Yosemite when I was a teenager, culminating with:

I'm in my little pup tent, with my cousin, asleep. I'm having a dream- a tree has fallen on the tent, and I can't sit up!! I wake up, and I can't sit up!! A bear is ON THE TENT, and has broken all the tent poles. I scream, loudly. It runs off, up a tree. Dogs in the campground go crazy. I ask my sister's husband (we're waiting for her to join us) if I can sleep in his tent. He says no. I spend the night in the concrete-with-a-door bathroom, and am scarred for life.

There are bears here, to the south, where I like to trail run. I don't like that, but I _really_ don't like the Grizzlies out west.

I probably shouldn't have read "Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance" or watched "Grizzley Man."

Nanci

[maillotpois]

Wow Nanci - great new picture! (Sorry thread drift in the wrong thread).

Amazing stories. I bet a bear sitting on your tent is not fun at all.

I saw 2 bears while cycling Tioga Pass in Yosemite. They were in the distance, so no real concerns. It was mostly a cool nature experience.

[Nanci]

We went on a family vacation in Grand Teton and Yellowstone many years ago. I guess Kelly, my daughter, was big enough to hike by herself. It was the year my mom died- just days afterwards. We rode horses in Grand Teton, and saw a cinnamon-colored black bear. We went to Yellowstone next- but I just couldn't hike comfortably because of all the bear sighting with date and time signs. We went back to GT, where a runner had been killed by a bear while we were gone...

Nanci

[Trekhawk]

Bears scare the hell out of me. My husband and I went to Alaska backpacking before we had kids and stayed in the back country in Denali National Park. It was beautiful but in the back of my mind was always the thought of what if that big grizzly comes this way. Didnt help that we had to have a bear brief from the ranger before leaving for the back country. He told us if you get in trouble with a bear you need to try to identify what sort of bear it is because the way you should react is different for the two types of bear. MY GOD Im an Aussie I dont know one bear from the other. My husband tried to make me feel better by saying hey you dont need to remember all this just remember to run faster than the person you are with.

We survived but I cant say it was a relaxing holiday. Tents sure do seem thin when large wildlife is around.

[DrBee]

We don't need to be scared of bears - we just need to bring the super territorial Jack the cat (from Duck on Wheels' post)

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=7383

[ladyfish]

Yep, we have a friend who lives in Alaska. He has a Dirty Harry pistol (357 mag) and my husband told him he's the only guy he knows who really would need that much firepower--you can't mess around with those huge bears!

[chickwhorips]

hey now bears aren't that bad! i live around them every day. they just make you realize that your not on the top of the food chain. around here they just don't care much for you except for the really old and big ones. we have one we call the landlord... who knows how old he is but he's probably close to 13ft. BIG BOY. he won't move for the truck. hope i don't run into him on the bike.