- Joined
- Nov 20, 2006
- Messages
- 600
Found this story and it's pretty crazy. Seems like he could have made some better decisions (especially the part about being worried about feeding a bear). No idea if it's true.
Link: http://www.backpacker.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=953107219;t=9991145229
I've added carriage returns to make it more legible.
Link: http://www.backpacker.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=953107219;t=9991145229
I've added carriage returns to make it more legible.
So this was my first backpacking trip in the UP of Michigan (this happened late August, I just started writing about it). I decided to do a nice 20 mile loop over four days, half of it on the Lake Superior trail, the other half through the bluffs and woods and meet up with my dad at the trail head he dropped me off at. The hike to my first campsite was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that it was pouring rain the entirety of the trip. No big deal, the less hikers I see the better.
So when I get to the site I set up my tent and sleeping bag, and take my shoes off to dry and put them under my vestibule. I walk barefoot to the Lake Superior shore where I set up my stove and start making a dinner of cous cous and chana masala.
While eating during a beautiful sunset I see a bear come to drink at the lake about 60 feet away. He stands up on his hindquarters to sniff at me and resumes drinking. After he leaves I finish eating and decide it's time to hangup my food. As I'm putting my food in my food bag I hear crashing behind me and see the bear about four feet away from me. I bang my pot and spoon at it and it leaves. After that I hear crashing at my site and I start to get a little worried.
I grab two large rocks and start clacking them shouting 'HEY BEAR" not to surprise him. But to my surprise when I get back to my tent I don't see my original bear but a mini. Uh oh, he's a she, and her cub is happily sitting in my ruined tent. I immediately leave the area and look for a tree to hide my food in.
While walking into a clearing of possible trees, I can hear and see her stalking me. As soon as I'm off the path she charges me and starts blowing and clacking her teeth at me. I grab my two rocks out of my pocket and put my hands above my head to make myself larger and clack them as loud as I can while screaming at her to go away. She continued to circle me and stand up while ripping the surrounding trees apart. At the same time she would break the sapling trees in my face momentarily blinding me, then run up behind me and slowly close in. All the while I'm keeping my hands above my head making noise with my rocks and screaming for help. I used to my rocks too hard one on them broke. Not thinking I put the two shards in my pocket. Eventually this encounter climaxed when she struck me three times in the leg. She hit hard enough to cause serious pain, but it still scared the **** out of me. So I put my tired arms back above my head and yelled "NO BEAR NO, YOU STOP IT" This scared her off, and soon after she had pushed me far enough away from the cub to feel comfortable leaving me. But now it's pitch dark out, raining, very cold, and I have no shoes or campsite.
I know that I need help I just don't know which direction to go. My choices are to keep going down the trail away from the bear and hope to find some campers, or go in the other direction where I had seen another couple camping about two miles down the trail, or get to the trail head about nine miles down the trail. I decide to go with the certainty of the campers, and closer trail head. I then decide to walk on the beach instead of the trail head for various reasons: one the light by the water was marginally better, also I know that sound travels better on water so if I shouted people might be able to hear me better, also I wanted a handrail to my side to make sure I didn't get lost, and finally I didn't like the bear having a 360º advantage against me, if she she came back I would have something at my back. The only drawback is Lake Superior is not a sandy tropical beach, and the rocks are extremely sharp and range from football size to large boulders.
I start on my trek, and after what was about two hours walking I got back to where I had originally encountered the bear (I was moving pretty slow navigating through the rocks and turns, also had my pack on with all my food in it). A short time after reaching my kitchen I could start to be able to smell the bear (I had always been taught you can smell wet bear long before you see it, very true). She followed me long enough for me to think I was maybe psyching myself out but knew that she was very close by. As I turned a bed, she ambushed me again. She came at me and backed me up to a large rock in the lake, where I slipped into the water and started to panic. I luckily grabbed a rock and threw it in her direction scaring her off, while she was distracted I grabbed a few others and scrambled up the rock.
While on top of my fortress I held my two rocks I had grabbed, and the two smaller rocks I had kept in my pocket. While I couldn't really see her except when lightning struck, I could sense her pacing back and forth, and hear her huffing at me. She started coming near me and I threw my first rock, I threw it so hard it caused sparks. She backed off again, but continued to pace back and forth in front of me. She started coming again and I threw the next. It was so big and heavy, and I was so weak that it didn't even make it off my rock. The sound still scared her. I grabbed it again, and was happy to have three rocks instead of two. This time I was really screaming at the top of my lungs. No longer making coherent words and just emitting a high pitched scream that blended in with the surrounding thunder, and waves crashing. After what seemed like ages, we were both there, and I only had one rock. I knew after that I wouldn't have anything left to defend me. She then made her most aggressive approach and ran up the ramp I had used to get up to my point. I threw my last rock, it clashed against the rock and fell into the water. She left my rock, and continued to pace.
Through my delirium I started thinking about getting my Swiss army knife out and trying to stab her if she came up again, or throwing food at her to distract her and run. I thankfully used my better judgment and didn't do either, plus even in the situation I couldn't bring myself to feeding wild animals which would later kill the bear. She eventually left, I couldn't be sure when since it was so dark. But when I was sure she was gone my adrenalin kicked out and I became exhausted and took a nap on the rock.
I woke up with no feeling in my hands or feet, shaking with cold and freezing cold. I make myself get up and start hiking again. I hike on the shore for a short time before I decide to try and find the trail somewhere in the woods in order to speed up my hike. As I was looking for it I lost view of the lake, and got nervous that I would get lost and went back to the reassuring lake Superior. While the woods had been nice on my feet, it was so dark in there I couldn't go two feet without getting smacked in the face by a tree and my progress slowed in half. Things got worse when while I was walking I slipped and fell into the freezing water, submerging half my body. And as I'm walking again, I thin the bear came back at me even though I couldn't smell or see her. I clambered on another rock with six large rocks in my pockets and hands this time, and after she left I took another nap and threw away two of my rocks.
After I woke up I took a step on what I thought to be rock and fell three feet and plunged into icy water again, falling on my side submerging all but my head. Now I know that my progressing hypothermia is now the danger, not the bear. And I'm doing everything I can to keep warm while walking, keeping my hands under my armpits, and not stopping. But then again I fell into the water, getting my whole body wet. I then give up and the bear not getting my food knowing it's off balancing me too much and I'm not strong enough to carry it any longer. I cache the food under some rocks, put my pack back on. Then it stops drizzling rain and starts pouring. I find some shelter under a pile of dead trees in the woods, and try to sleep until the sun comes out.
I wake up well before sunrise to not be able to feel my hands or legs. I had stopped shaking, and that's when I got really nervous and forced myself to get back up, despite how much I wanted to rest. I decide to give finding the trail another shot, and pull my cellphone out (which surprisingly didn't break) and use it as a flashlight. After bushwacking I finally find the trail and start hiking in earnest. My cellphone's battery goes into red, and I'm terrified it'll die and I'll get lost on the trail without my handrail at my side. It lasts me all the way to the other campers site, then promptly dies. As I get to my final destination I fall asleep on the picnic table bench with my head slumped on the table.
After being helped by a kind couple and warming up. I collected my ruined gear. And went back to the hotel that my dad was staying at, got a bacon cheeseburger, and slept for 17 hours.
