I ALMOST DIED!

Ok, this time I'm serious. Friday night I went with a group of friends to hike to campsite 17 near Abram's Creek Campground. Its a 3 mile hike about 2 miles past where Jessica and I camped last summer. Well, when we got to the trailhead we saw a sign that said that campsite 15 was closed due to bear activity. 15 is about 2 miles south of where we were camping. We all joked about what we would do if we saw a bear. Joe, who was hiking with us, said if you see a bear under 1 year old you can punch it in the nose and it will sit down and cry. I joked, what do you do ask the bear its age when you see it? I joked that I would just Judo kick the bear in the mouth and all would be well. So, we all got to the campsite and had a lovely evening. At about 3am it started raining. That sucked and my tent started leaking a little bit. I was planning on leaving early that morning anyways and the rest of the guys were going to hike to Abram's Falls and spend another night. So, at about 6:30am I braved the rain and packed up my tent to leave...by myself. About a mile and a half into my hike back to the car, I was marveling at God's creation and really not paying attention to much else. I was hiking along the creek/river that ran along the trail edge. I came around a corner and there he was...a black bear! He/she was sniffing the air like Leo does when he knows there's something close that shouldn't be close. Bears have bad eye sight, but a really good sense of smell and hearing. I don't think he saw me, but he definately knew I was close. So, I stopped quickly in my tracks and walked back about 500 feet to some rocks off the trail. I got my foot caught briefly in the rocks (which freaked me out even more) and peered around the trees to see if I could still see him/her. No luck. So I waited a couple minutes, took off my pack, and walked back towards the bear. He/she was gone! Filled with the power of adrenelene I hiked quickly towards my car.

Joe walked into Church Sunday (they didn't end up staying the night) with a smile on his face and said, "We saw a bear on the way back to the car!" I said, "No way, I did to!" Only they saw it running from a distance and I got to see this thing...by myself...up close. I have to say that I've never been more scared then Sat morning when I was alone, wet, tired, and face to face with an unpredictable black bear. I did follow the "rules of engagement" when one faces a bear. First, you're supposed to get out of its way. If it comes towards you, you are supposed to get to high ground and make loud noises at it. Then you play dead if it becomes hostile. Luckily, I didn't have to go beyond the first step...



I will judo kick you in the face!