northernmusician's Journal, 30 June 2014

That is pretty scary, wow. I'll have dreams tonight of being on a treadmill and being chased by a bear, yikes! 

you tough cookie, one look at the bear and the bear will go running. 

Uh.. wow! 

That was the biggest grizzly print I'd ever come across. I hope I never see one like that again. 

I always found that the moose were meaner than the bears in Alaska. I was driving from Soldotna to Homer two years ago and I swear there were moose with backs as high as the top of my truck. HUGE! And they are super territorial, they charge people....it's insane! Cuddly little bear gets all the flack ;) 

Bears are majestic creatures. 

no bears in the netherlands (just in the zoo's) 

I had a bear come and visit me while I was in the white mountains Sunday Night. He came to the Inn's Fire pit looking for Marshmellows. According to the Innkeeper, he's a frequent visitor. 

A long time ago (like 3 decades ago) I was backpacking with some friends and we slept under the stars...we'd seen bear signs and so left our food tied on a tree branch away from camp. That night the bear was prowling all around the camp, it was almost a full moon so he was easy to see, came within 25 feet or so of us. A little unnerving but cool at the same time, he left us alone after a time and went on his way. It was a black bear. 

I remember a number of years ago there was a guy disappeared out of his tent in Hyder, Alaska. He was sleeping in it behind the pub. Gone. Bear tracks. Never seen again. About 20 years ago, a woman was attacked by a bear in northern BC in a national park. An American tourist had a rifle and shot the bear. No one was supposed to have a rifle in the park. The woman died. Our province decided not to lay charges. Seriously? They were stupid enough to even consider charges? Sometimes heroes are people who have broken laws. I'd buy and carry a .45 while hunting if it were legal here. Nature is not represented by Disney. 

Yeah, a gun is always smart out in the wild and not just for the bears. Not a lot of predictability out in the wild.  

So many places here where you could step out of your vehicle, walk 10 minutes, and nobody would see you again. You're alone, and you don't have to be far from a road to be there. 

tell me, everybody longs for the time in their life to try out such a life or die situation... or is that just me? 

I think so. There's so much pressure to live a life that's safe. Protect your health. Don't take chances. Do the responsible thing. What is the human response to being told to be careful (little, Johnny)? Climb higher. Swim the river. Tie the bungie to your heels and jump. What's life without risk? There has to be some risk or there is no life. Part of this is proving what you can do, to yourself and others. Four alarm chili is still on the menu. :D Don't you feel in your writing it's about exploring what little parts of yourself might do? 

Good grief, don't you ever work? Every time I read your comments you are out galavanting around getting in touch with nature.