Barry, I don't know who has convinced you that the outdoors is so dangerous, but whoever it was did you a disservice. Many of the people here have hundreds, if not thousands of miles of hiking and climbing on their resumes and virtually none of them have even seen a bear, been bitten by something or been hurt (except Jim who broke his leg jumping over a log, but that was his own fault from what I hear; hehehe).

My point is, yes, you could be eaten by a bear, kidnapped by drug dealers, fall off a cliff or get struck by lightning. BUT, if you just stay home, you could die from eating bad mayonaise, get swine flu, get hit by a car walking across the street or get hit by a piece of space junk. I could go on and on, but you get the point.

The chances of any of these things happening is about zero, so stop worrying, take reasonable precautions and go out an enjoy yourself.