I grew up seeing the cover of Outdoor Life Magazine displaying a giant grizzly standing upright with blood on its fangs and claws swatting a pack of dogs around like they were misquitos. Or just attacking some poor camper, ( in the same grizzly pose of course ). Childhood images can be hard to displace.
I cannot imagine what that poor woman went through walking alone in the dark. I guess some fears have to be met head on.
My best friend in high school hunted bears with dogs. Bear meat can taste pretty good. The reality is rarely what it is on magazines full of advertising for things like guns and other outdoor gear.
I can imagine what my friend went through... I went solo for quite a while. The first time was the hardest; successive outings I was less and less afraid of being out there in the moonless dark by myself, until I realized that the worst thing that was going to happen was mosquito bites on my butt when I did a midnight run. The only animal I've had through camp was a turkey. Still waiting for a bear to touch my canister, which has been in active bear areas the entire time it's been in use.
Feelings are feelings, they don't have to control your choices.
When I hike with a group and some of them carry bear spray, I pitch my setup a ways from them, upwind if I can determine that, and tell them I'll probably be waking them up if I get out of the sack to pee by whistling or humming as I go through camp, so they don't shoot me with their bear spray panicking in their half sleep. Maybe they won't like that but I think they would like it more than running for SAR.
Previous Topic
Index
