4th
of JULY - BEAR EXPERIENCE: Head of the Cassiar
(Joe)
We woke up this morning, from a good nights rest, from some rustling in
the forest behind us. I tip toed out of the tent, whistling “Peter
and the Wolf,” toward our food hang. Relieved to see that it was
still there, I pulled it down and headed back to camp to pack up. After
about ten minutes we were ready to pull out towards Kitwanga. That’s
when I heard Rob call out “Joseph there’s a bear on the road”.
About 25 yards away the black bear took a look at us and then ran off
for the brush. After forty miles of riding we stopped to have breakfast
at the only resteraunt around. We don’t expect to see another one
for about 165 miles.
(ROB) Today is the Fourth of July, a day most Americans celebrate. Not here. It’s just a normal Sunday. This morning Joseph nudged me, awakening me from my slumber. I lazily opened my eyes to see him laying on his side, with eyes wide open. He whispered, “shhhh. Do you here that?” I thought to myself, “Damn, he heard a bear.” After listening for awhile I thought, nah, its gotta be a squirrel or dear or something. But then, as I packed up my bags and clambered onto the road I saw a huge black bear just starring right at us! Holly Crap! I yelled, “Joseph, There’s a BEAR!” I probably shouted it really loud because the bear seemed to go, “Woooh, that’s a loud thing standing on the road, I’m outta here.” Anyhow, lots of new flowers along the way. We now approach the head of the Cassiar. It’s a long way to civilization from this restaurant. We have close to 160 miles and then 300 miles after that; all of it through Grizzly country. We haven’t run into a Grizzly yet, but it may be in our future.
