I've been very fortunate to have experienced numerous wildlife encounters on the trails over the years. I am usually accompanied by one of my dogs, so I don't agree with those that think "hiking dogs" will prevent others from having their own brush with nature. There is nothing like being close to these majestic animals, and I truly relish each event. Pick up a copy of Benjamin Kilham's book Among The Bears (shameless promotion here.........available at
www.mountainwanderer.com). I don't believe you will be as afraid after reading it. Here are a few of my favorite Bear stories.
When I struck off to hike Mt Whiteface (NH) via the Blueberry Ledge trail for the first time, I was almost overcome by fear when I noticed the "NO HUNTING WITH BEAR DOGS" signs posted at the forest edge. It was in the Spring, & bright, new foliage was abundant, and the forest was alive with sounds. Cody (dog) was bouncing around having a ball, & I was trembling. I think I was almost to the top when I finally convinced myself that I wasn't going to be snuck-up on by anything. Quite a few years later I did have a Bear encounter on a Whiteface trip. I was doing a different route to visit this mountain, and I parked at the WMNF parking area on the Whiteface Intervale Rd. Cody was with me again, and we did the Flat Mt Pond tr, McGrillis tr, Rollins tr (to the summit only), Blueberry Ledge tr, returning to the parking area via the McGrillis Path. We were just to the end of the Path, as the forest eases into a surrounding field, when I spotted a Momma Bear & 3 cubs foraging around an old Apple tree. I softly called Cody to me & we stood still for awhile watching them. Then I spoke loudly to Mum, letting her know we were there, so that she once again could teach her little ones when to seek cover, and we of course could continue through to the parking area without incident.
In Waterville Valley NH, on the afternoon of July 4th back in the early 90's, I was the last to leave the office for the day. The town was not quiet, but the parking area for the property management division had cleared out about a 1/2 hr earlier. As I pulled the office door shut behind me, the disturbed silence made a visiting Bear stand up in the dumpster to take notice of his surroundings. The dumpster was one car width away from my vehicle, & my vehicle was 3 car widths away from me, with a locked door at my back. We both froze. I gave my keys a shake, and he was gone in one quick leap. That experience made me realize just how shy they tend to be.
On a hike to Mt Tremont, via the forest service road off the Bear Notch Rd, & the Brunel trail, Cody & I came across another young Bear. I think he was either napping or rolling on the ground when we bumped into him, as there was no sight of him on the low level terrain as we approached. I looked up to see Cody bounce forward, but she never barked, so I still wasn't forewarned. I next witnessed the black mass pounce on the closest tree & shimmy up about a foot. That was as far as it could go, as it was the remains of an old dead tree. So there was the Bear, and we were about twelve feet from it. I clipped Cody on her leash & we stood still. The bear slowly looked over its shoulder at us, and then slowly looked in the other direction, as if to express that it wished to be somewhere far-far-away from that rotted tree trunk. It's face looked very scared. Cody & I quietly walked passed, and when we were about 20 feet away, he leapt off the tree & disappeared into the forest.
Taz & I came up behind a Mum & 2 cubs on the way to Mt Potash, off the Kanc, one hot summer morning. Again, the encounter was in close proximity. I could see Taz up ahead of me, about 250 feet, when I spotted more than one black blob. I called Taz's name repeatedly in a very loud-deep tone, to warn the Mum of our presence, and to let Taz know I was insisting that she return to me pronto. She did, & was greeted with hushed "Good Girl, Good Girl". I clipped her on her leash, & we stood still for a few seconds before I started to hear an almost painful sound. The cubs were very frightened, and started to bawl for their Mum. She had treed them, and had run off a short distance in an effort to distract us from her little ones. Their cries got louder & more heart wrenching, and for a moment I found myself wondering if they were ok............. Mum was concerned too, as she stood up on her hind legs & swayed back & forth trying to sense where the intruders were. Bears don't have very good eye sight, but their sense of smell makes up for it. We hadn't hiked in very far from the parking area when this occurred, so I decided that we would leave & let them reunite, instead of waiting for them to. We went for a hike to Square Ledge instead.
Early this Summer, Tuck & I were doing a trail run up Picked Rock on the Loon Mountain ski trails, when we came up on a big fellow. Tuck was only about 25 feet ahead of me when he stopped abruptly, standing on the edge of the work road at the top of the trail. I couldn't see passed the rise in the terrain, but his body language let me know there was "something" up there. I softly said "stay", and he didn't move. I caught up & clipped the leash on him, and looked up to see a large, headless, black blob. He was apparently eating wild Strawberries on the side of the slope. He looked up momentarily, but had no interest in us over this sweet serving of fruit. We were approx. 50 feet from him. We went down slope & connected with Upper Flying Fox to continue our after work run to the top of the ski area.
Just a few weeks ago, at the end of October, Tuck & I came across another Bruin on the Carter-Moriah trail about a mile or so in from Bangor Rd. We were still down in the hardwoods, when Tuck stopped dead in the trail, and pointed like a bird dog.......he's a 95 lb Doberman ;o) I told him to stay, and clipped him on the leash. The Chipmunk's/Squirrel's were making a lot of noise, but I couldn't see anything other than fall foliage in the surrounding area. We started to walk slowly forward, and my normally happy-go-lucky, bouncing boy was a bit tentative. Suddenly, a black mass burst from the left side of the trail, about 50 feet ahead of us, crossed over to the other side & was gone.
So far, my encounters with Moose have been much more intimidating than the ones with Bears. But as the other folks said, they all feel like gifts. It was fun to relive them all just now, and in my minds eye, I remember every detail of each one ;o)
