Outdoor Safety Survival by Mike Nash

Author:Mike Nash
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 7662c1d2fbd43157e9a46acbfa0c166431791171
Publisher: RMB | Rocky Mountain Books
Published: 2017-04-11T16:00:00+00:00

Every situation is different and has to be assessed and acted upon according to your knowledge, experience and the situation. Usually this means getting a sense of what the bear is going to do before you react. As a general guide, avoid direct eye contact and aggressive body language unless you are dealing with a predatory bear (usually a black bear) and retreat slowly when you have the chance.

REALITY CHECK: After a long hike into Lake Magog at the foot of BC’s Mount Assiniboine on a hot day in July 2006, our party of eight were descending, tired, from Assiniboine Pass to O’Brien Meadows, only a few kilometres from our destination. Although camping for the week, we were not well equipped to spend the night out, as we had flown most of our gear in to Assiniboine Lodge by helicopter earlier in the day. The trail led right across the meadows, and in the middle of it I spotted a large, blond-coloured grizzly bear. The wind was in our favour and the bear had not scented us, so we stood around talking for a while so as to allow the bear to become aware of our presence, and enjoying the moment from a safe vantage point. The grizzly was still several hundred metres away. When it heard us, however, instead of fleeing, it first stood its ground and then bluff-charged us, crossing the meadow at an impressive speed. Stopping well short of us, it retreated and then reared up in the classic stance that looks frighteningly aggressive but usually is just a sign of curiosity. For some in the group, it was their first grizzly encounter and there was a fair amount of excitement and trepidation, especially after the charge. Some even rated it (in hindsight) as their favourite moment of a fine week of hiking. Over the next half hour, the bear stayed mostly in the meadow, alternately disappearing into the forest on the far side and reappearing. This was a “park bear,” habituated to and unafraid of people. During the hike in, we had twice passed signs warning of prior grizzly attacks on hikers on the trail. This bear appeared to be exhibiting territorial behaviour and was clearly reluctant to vacate its meadow and our trail. What to do? Most of our gear and food lay across the meadow; but although we were well over the magic number of four to six generally considered safe for travel in grizzly country, it did not feel right to push the bear in these circumstances. Our first strategy of waiting it out hadn’t produced any results after half an hour, so we decided to retreat and try and find a way around. Although some felt we were being overly cautious, retreat has always worked for me in this type of situation. At worst, it would inconvenience us, whereas the alternative had a small chance of ending in disaster. As we began climbing back toward the pass, however, we met four more people returning to the lodge from a day hike.

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