It's official. I think I'm going crazy! It seems like over the past three days I have been surrounded by horrific tales of bear attacks. Let me start by saying that this is a new phenomenon. I have never had an encounter with a bear, nor do I ever hope to. However, there have been three distinct experiences over the last couple of days that have vastly increased my fear of our furry forest "friends".
As Nancy mentioned in her blog, the bishop of our ward here decided that they needed to challenge the young men in our ward. They planned a 50 mile hike to be completed over the course of three days. I am happy to report that it appeared on Sunday that they had all survived. However, during dinner that night, Gordon relayed a story the bishop had told during Priesthood meeting. He said that one night, this group found themselves at 9:00pm in an area not suitable for making camp. The area that they had anticipated camping at was still a good 3-4 hours away. They decided to keep going until they reached it. As they were hiking they started to notice sounds that indicated they were being followed. You guessed it! They were being followed by a bear. DUN Dun dun!! They decided to all get as close together as possible and start screaming. Apparently this tactic worked and they finished their hike without incident...
Later that night, I awoke to find myself in a cold sweat just having had a nightmare about a bear attacking our whole family while we hiked together in the Uintas. Inspite of a brave attempt from Sydney to ward off our unwanted furry friend, my nightmare went from bad to worse as our family was scattered tying to outrun the grizzly. (I guess Mom's wildlife training doesn't kick in in nightmares.) Thankfully I awoke just as I saw the bear heading for Kara and Lianne... Phewf! That was a close one!
Fast forward to Tuesday, the most 'grizzly' scene of all- pun intended. :) Mom told me that she had heard that a family was camped up American Fork Canyon and bear tore through their tent and dragged their 11-year-old son out. His parents said they awoke to his screaming as he was dragged out and later found his body 400 feet from the tent. I was shocked! How horrible is that! It was horrible enough to even make the 11:00pm news here in Louisville where the only things reported are shootings and horse races.
As Nancy mentioned in her blog, the bishop of our ward here decided that they needed to challenge the young men in our ward. They planned a 50 mile hike to be completed over the course of three days. I am happy to report that it appeared on Sunday that they had all survived. However, during dinner that night, Gordon relayed a story the bishop had told during Priesthood meeting. He said that one night, this group found themselves at 9:00pm in an area not suitable for making camp. The area that they had anticipated camping at was still a good 3-4 hours away. They decided to keep going until they reached it. As they were hiking they started to notice sounds that indicated they were being followed. You guessed it! They were being followed by a bear. DUN Dun dun!! They decided to all get as close together as possible and start screaming. Apparently this tactic worked and they finished their hike without incident...
Later that night, I awoke to find myself in a cold sweat just having had a nightmare about a bear attacking our whole family while we hiked together in the Uintas. Inspite of a brave attempt from Sydney to ward off our unwanted furry friend, my nightmare went from bad to worse as our family was scattered tying to outrun the grizzly. (I guess Mom's wildlife training doesn't kick in in nightmares.) Thankfully I awoke just as I saw the bear heading for Kara and Lianne... Phewf! That was a close one!
Fast forward to Tuesday, the most 'grizzly' scene of all- pun intended. :) Mom told me that she had heard that a family was camped up American Fork Canyon and bear tore through their tent and dragged their 11-year-old son out. His parents said they awoke to his screaming as he was dragged out and later found his body 400 feet from the tent. I was shocked! How horrible is that! It was horrible enough to even make the 11:00pm news here in Louisville where the only things reported are shootings and horse races.
So, I think, because of recent events, bears have climbed to the top my "animals I never wish to encounter" list right behind the brown recluse spider (of which I saw the effects of a bite for the first time last week in a pharmacy window). Please, if any of you suffer from the same paranoia, I'm having t-shirts made. Maybe they'll at least keep the nightmares away.
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2 comments:
I know what you mean. I'll wear a T-shirt...or maybe just avoid the mountains!
Ya... It's some pretty scary stuff. I definitely would never want to have to live through or watch a bear attack.
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