Okay, I know after this I'll have posted twice, but after yesterday I feel I should share. After almost 4 years in Alaska, over a dozen bear encounters and many "bear talks," I finally had a scary encounter.The bear I encountered yesterday while hiking with two clients was not very happy with our presence and wanted us out of there. This ocurred just before the bridge at the gorge on Winner Creek, and though I actually followed procedure, the bear still "charged." Fortunately I didn't have to spray the bear, as he/she darted to the right over a morrain several feet before reaching us.
In hindsight, I'm glad that I didn't spray because I was definitely NOT thinking about things like wind direction at the last moment there.
Honestly, I was surprised at how my body reacted. My mouth went dry and I wasn't frightened until afterwards. I just went into focus/numb mode.
The reason I think the bear followed us is that the male client didn't listen to my initial instructions. He really wanted some good pictures of the bear so I think he may have even taken a few steps toward the bear despite my instructions to move behind me (I had the spray). I had given them instructions about bears at the trailhead and then ironically, we revisited the subject about 10 minutes before our encounter.
When the bear first approached, we all raised our arms over our head and yelled "HEY BEAR! GET OUT OF HERE BEAR!" but he kept coming anyway. We then backed slowly away, still making ourselves appear large and yelling, until we were over the bridge, and until the bear started running towards us, across the bridge, and until, fortunately, he/she ran off to the right.
Be bear aware! Any other recent encounters?
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