re: Grizzly Mauls Hiker in Yellowstone

LOL... Now THAT'S an abundance of caution. Were you shouting "Hey, bear!" and beating the brush with your trekking poles the whole way back up the trail? I don't think people can really appreciate the adrenalin surge you experience, unless it has happened to them.

Towards the end of a long day backpacking solo, 15 or 16 miles of trail behind me, I was tired and kind of zoned out. The stretch of trail was straight and level, going through some fairly thick forest (Resurrection Trail, AK). I was making that final push to where I intended to camp that night and wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings (mistake!). All of a sudden I hear kind of a "woof" right to my side in the brush. It took me about a half step to wake up and realize that it was very likely an unseen bear huffing at me. I jumped about ten feet and spun around to try to see what it was. Never saw or heard another thing as I slowly backed up the trail away from the area (I was later told that it might have been a moose, which apparently kill more people than bears). I made plenty noise the rest of the way to my campsite and my antenna stayed fully extended!

I went from peaceful and relaxed to fully alert in about a second and a half. I'd love to know what my heart rate jumped up to!