I'm alive! This years backpacking trip is one we'll be telling stories about for years.
Brief excerpt from the hike
Stop at trail head to read the rules of the path. Notice on board says "Beware Bears. All over nighters must have a bear canister."
B: What?! No one said anything about bears.
Me: Didn't you see it on the forestry website? I sent the link to my sister.
B: No! I saw nothing!
Sister: It'll be fine. We probably won't see a bear.
B: We don't have a canister! The bears will know we have food!
Me: My husband rented a bear canister. Just put your food with ours.
Several hours later from the campsite across the path
Unknown camper: Get bear, get. Go on, now. Get. Go AWAY BEAR. GO AWAY!
B: BEAR?!
Brother in law: It'll be fine. We did everything we were supposed to.
B: BEAR?!
Brother in law: We'll post a fireguard.
Sister: Oh no you won't. You have to come to bed to protect me. You can guard from the tent.
One in the morning.
Dog growls.
Brother in law: Get bear, get. GO AWAY NOW!
Needless to say, none of us got much sleep that night. No one actually saw the bear, but my brother in law said he heard something big coming through the underbrush toward us. He's spent considerable time in the wilderness and is an Army Ranger, so I trust his assessment of events.
Also, when we got off the trail a few campers said bears had taken their food. Thank goodness my husband decided to research everything about the trail this time or we might have had our food taken too.
The trip was exhausting, but fun. I would definitely go on another one. Although I might pick an easier route next time as this one nearly caused a revolt. Nothing went as planned, and unfortunately we couldn't complete it because some of the trail was closed due to erosion.
Bonus: I got a great idea for a scene in a future Broken Lands novel :-) I get inspiration out of the weirdest things.
Brief excerpt from the hike
Stop at trail head to read the rules of the path. Notice on board says "Beware Bears. All over nighters must have a bear canister."
B: What?! No one said anything about bears.
Me: Didn't you see it on the forestry website? I sent the link to my sister.
B: No! I saw nothing!
Sister: It'll be fine. We probably won't see a bear.
B: We don't have a canister! The bears will know we have food!
Me: My husband rented a bear canister. Just put your food with ours.
Several hours later from the campsite across the path
Unknown camper: Get bear, get. Go on, now. Get. Go AWAY BEAR. GO AWAY!
B: BEAR?!
Brother in law: It'll be fine. We did everything we were supposed to.
B: BEAR?!
Brother in law: We'll post a fireguard.
Sister: Oh no you won't. You have to come to bed to protect me. You can guard from the tent.
One in the morning.
Dog growls.
Brother in law: Get bear, get. GO AWAY NOW!
Needless to say, none of us got much sleep that night. No one actually saw the bear, but my brother in law said he heard something big coming through the underbrush toward us. He's spent considerable time in the wilderness and is an Army Ranger, so I trust his assessment of events.
Also, when we got off the trail a few campers said bears had taken their food. Thank goodness my husband decided to research everything about the trail this time or we might have had our food taken too.
The trip was exhausting, but fun. I would definitely go on another one. Although I might pick an easier route next time as this one nearly caused a revolt. Nothing went as planned, and unfortunately we couldn't complete it because some of the trail was closed due to erosion.
Bonus: I got a great idea for a scene in a future Broken Lands novel :-) I get inspiration out of the weirdest things.
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