The returning runner…
Act 73 – On the run from bears and wasps
I was running strong heading up the Galena Creek trail. One of those good days – feeling quite chipper. As I approached a sharp turn, a brown blur coming down through the trees caught my eye. Seemed like two large dogs running together. But, to my surprise, a large bear came darting around the corner. To my relief he turned on a dime and started lumbering off the trail. Galena Creek is a popular trail and often well-traveled by families with small kids. Being a genius, I decided it would be a good idea to shoo him away from the trail. So…I started after him yelling as I went and he seemed to be dutifully obliging as he moved away from the trail. Being that he was a very large bear, I thought that it would be a really clever idea to get a picture of him. But this was in the early days of being able to go straight to your camera without entering the passcode and, being a genius, I kept messing up the code as I ran after him. Glancing up from the last attempt at the passcode, I happened to notice that the bear had stopped moving away and I had managed to close within 6 feet of him. Like I said, a genius…
Well, that bear stood up on his hind legs and he was much taller than my 6’4” and certainly much broader. I evaluated my choices:
1. Turn and run – I would become “prey”;
2. Continue to try to shoo him off – Pretty sure if I moved 6 inches closer he would be in fight mode; or,
3. Pretend to be a herbivore that was neither threatened by him or a threat to him.
Ok, finally making a quasi-intelligent decision I chose #3. I looked at the ground, I prodded some grass with my toe, I moved slowly and calmly. After 20 seconds or so, the bear dropped down to all fours and lumbered off. I’m not sure how I did it. I guess I just realized that I had no choice – either calm myself or die. Rangers later told me that the bear I had encountered weighed over 450 pounds!
More recently, I enjoyed slightly cooler weather as I ran the Dry Pond loop. As I passed close by an adjacent stream I felt an uncomfortable buzzing around my lower left leg. Almost simultaneously I let out a yell as something “Bit me right in the buttocks” (Forrest Gump, 1994). I swatted madly at my right cheek as I shifted to a sprint up the trail. As my adrenaline diminished, I slowed gradually to a brisk run. But, too soon! Yeow!!!! Something stung me in an even more critical area (for a man)! I yanked my shorts down and madly swatted at everything in the region. Never saw the culprits but the swelling which came later verified the attack.
The moral of the story? I guess a wasp attack is worse than a bear behind.
Photo: A good-sized bear playing with our Pleasant Valley, Nevada (Reno area) trash can.