Quote:
Originally Posted by puckluck2
Ok how about you walk alone in Kananaskis forests for 12 hours and I'll drive to Vancouver and will see who is more "afraid".
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I hike in Kananaskis alone all the time. I carry bear spray, and a 10" Bowie knife on a chest sheath when I am alone. Not saying that I would expect to go hand to hand with a bear with a knife and survive, but it is better than nothing if the bear spray doesn't work.
I actually had a really scary encounter last year. I was on the Canadian Everest trail, which is a pretty lame hike between the upper and lower lakes, that is usually a pretty heavily frequented trail. But it was early May, and I was the only guy up there at the time. There was one car in the parking lot, and it was mine.
About 1 km in, I hear rustling in the bushes, and all of a sudden a black bear cub goes shooting across the trial into the woods about 30 feet from me. About 5 seconds later, another cub goes blasting through like a lightning shot, with a big raven following him. I look down the ridge, and the 2 cubs were wrestling with each other... just playing. The bird is watching them like WTF from a tree above, I am watching them thinking what a cute moment, then all of a sudden I realize "Where's mom?" I heard some rustling in the trees up above me, I took my bear spray out of the holster, and just started booking it back the way I came since it was downhill. It was pretty damn spooky. There is zero cell phone reception up there if you get in trouble, and nobody knew where I was, I just decided while I was having a coffee that morning to head out.
That being said, I am in their domain when I am out in the woods, and I wouldn't expect sympathy if I ever got killed by one in the forest. They are incredibly beautiful, majestic animals, and relish the chances I get to sight one, when we are separated by a river, a car door, or a shelter.