[pct-l] Bear stories

[wayneskraft at comcast.net (Wayne Kraft)]

OK, I am getting old and my brain is foggy.  I've got a lot of  
stories that interest me a great deal and I will relate them to you  
even if they don't interest you, you've heard them before and they  
are off topic. Here's one:

Back in the mid-seventies my wife and I and a group of eight or so  
old friends met at a trail head in the Canadian Rockies to hike to  
Mt. Robson.  I don't remember all the details.  The hike was around  
10 miles long as I recall and we planned to camp that night at a  
beautiful alpine lake at the base of a hanging glacier not far from  
the BC/Alberta border. We stopped at a ranger station and inquired  
about various issues, including the likelihood of encountering  
bears.  I was not a party to the conversation, but one of my hiking  
buddies advised us the ranger said bears were not common in the area  
and we were very unlikely to see one.  This didn't seem quite right  
to me at the time, but what do I know?

The hike began along a wide trail, an abandoned road I think, that  
followed the course of a rushing stream.  Although we walked two or  
three abreast and were talking amongst ourselves, the sound of the  
water drowned out all but the loudest of noises.  I was sauntering  
along in the lead not  a mile I don't think from the trailhead,  
contented with the beauty of the day, when I glanced up and saw a  
bear seated 50 feet ahead with his back to me and apparently  
oblivious to our presence.  I stopped dead in my tracks, stretched  
out both my arms to stop the forward progress of my friends and said,  
"whoa!."  At the same time I was sizing up the bear's options.   
Stream on one side, steep hill on the other, trail ahead and us  
behind.  Just then the bear saw us and simply disappeared.  He didn't  
go either direction on the trail or into the stream, so I assume he  
went up the almost-cliff beside the trail, although I'll be darned if  
I could tell how he disappeared so quickly and quietly.

Anyway, we spent much of the rest of the hike discussing our bear  
avoidance options.  We resolved to keep a pristine campsite, cook  
away from the tents and bear hang our food (canisters not yet  
invented), etc.  When we arrived at our destination we discovered a  
large, flat inviting campsite large enough for several tents.  There  
was already one tent there.  Full of jolly Australian climbers.   
Frying pork chops.  In their tent. So much for bear avoidance.  When  
we scouted the area for a good food hanging site, we discovered lots  
of huckleberry bushes. Stripped completely of their berries and much  
of their leaves.  Stripped. Not picked.  Oh my.  We hung our food as  
high as we could.

We spent two days based there day hiking out into the gorgeous  
surrounding country.  Although a huge porcupine waddled though our  
camp as though he owned it, we saw no further bear signs. I had  
almost forgotten this pleasant trip until Donna mentioned her  
unmentionable question.

Wayne