Video context:
- First and foremost, safety takes a back seat to nothing. Never get this close to wild animals.
- Spent nearly five hours hiking to Mountain Pass (7,600′), enjoying lunch, relaxing
- Sun will soon be out of sight
- Car is five miles away
- Been hiking in Grizzly Bear country for 50 years
- We are alone on the mountain Pass, late September
- i miraculously spot a bear 800 meters from the Pass
- The bear is 10-15 meters from trail
- Trail is the only way to safely pass the bear to return to car
- As we hike down, we become blind to Bear’s location
- We clear small forrest and see the Bear
- Without hesitation, our only choice is obvious to me
- We must get past the bear or risk being trapped
- Once Sun disappears behind Continental Divide, it gets cold quickly
- There is no safe way to pass if we attempt off-trail route
- Trusted my gut from 50 years of wilderness experience
- We talk loud so the Bear knows we are coming, to avoid surprise
- Bear is foraging in a hole it dug, eyes “buried”, we quickly pass
- We walk (never run) far down the trail, peering back often
- We pause, grateful to be on the car side of trail
- In this moment, i sense something for first time in half a century
- Bear is focused on eating, not us
- We observe Bear is a surreal encounter
- Scariest animal encounter ever, and also the most incredible
- Finally, this is absolutely the most dangerous position to be in. NEVER think for a moment that you can safely do what we just did
- i know i will be a fool to think this would ever be safe in the future. You should too.
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