[pct-l] Fishing for bears...

[Jeffrey Olson]

Stephen wrote:
> No offense, but folks posting here seem awful worried about bears and wildlife.  Just go fishing and have fun.  
I'll echo Stephen's comment.  On a section hike, a short one, I was 
heading south from Steven's Pass and spent the night just south of the 
Desolation Lakes, stealth camping.  It was very quiet and I lay in my 
tent hyped from walking and the busyness of day-to-day life sloughing 
from my being.  I fell into an uneasy sleep - waking up often to noises 
in the forest.  I woke once to a noise that continued.  It was the sound 
of breathing, a kind of heavy, coarse breathing backgrounded with the 
sound of breaking sticks.  It was a bear, and it was 50' away or so I 
judged.  It could have been 10' or 100'.  I really couldn't tell. 


I lay there, my body braced against panic.  For a moment I was aware of 
the two days of food under my head, but 99% of my awareness was outside 
my tent, listening to the sounds of the animal move at its own pace, 
snuffing once in a while, moving stuff.  I imagined it stalking my tent, 
circling, getting ready to move in for the kill, relishing and 
anticipating rending me, tearing me apart into tasty morsels. 


Suddenly I found myself suspended in space in the forest, looking down 
the hill at my tent and the bear checking logs for grubs, swinging it's 
head once in a while to make sure nothing about me and my tent had 
changed.  It was in that moment that I realized I was simply a part of 
the bear's world.  He was going about his business, as were the deer up 
the ridge, the squirrels running around, the clouds scudding by.  My 
fear and near panic were nothing more than my imposition on the world a 
way of seeing that in that moment I realized was the product of being a 
city person (Seattle), uncomfortable with being alone, and self-centered 
- mostly really self-centered. 


Maybe I'd felt this before in my 40 odd years of backpacking.  But I 
didn't remember the feeling.  I felt myself to be part of the 
wilderness, the forest and all the animals and their activities within 
it.  It was a profound experience, one I remember vividly to this day.  
Ever since then, now about 15 years ago, I have no "unreasonable" fear 
of the unknown in the wilderness.  I relish seeing a bear.  It's a gift. 


I do not cook in camp and try not to sleep where it's obvious others 
sleep.Even walking in grizzly country - the Absorokas - bear spray 
hooked to my shoulder strap, cowboys on horses with big pistols and 
powerful rifles shaking their heads at our naivety, I don't walk or 
sleep in fear.  I walk with vigilance and respect, but not fear...  I am 
comfortable in the wilderness... 


Jeffrey Olson
Martin, SD