Running With Bears

My family is big on getting together regularly, family reunions are a must. While most of my family resides in Utah and Arizona, some members have drifted further afield. So when a family reunion was scheduled to happen in British Columbia we were so excited. The trip to BC was a long one from Southern Utah, especially with 6 kids. But it was a fun adventure, and beautiful country to travel through.

After arriving in Salmon Arm, BC we enjoyed several days of family activities in this beautiful area. Although I was not running as much then as I am currently I had brought my running gear and planned to get a run or two in. But wasn’t planning on anything as amazing as some of my other adventures.

The Run Begins

I didn’t even give a second thought to the fact that bears might be close at hand. Waking up before the sun I ran along some roads heading up to the forest and some trails. On the edge of the old growth cedar forest I found some mountain bike trails. These meandered nicely up the mountain under the canopy of the forest. Eventually I reached the top of the trails and connected with a single track dirt road. This road meandered up the mountain offering some beautiful vistas periodically between the trees.

On the corner of one of the turns the road passed a couple caterpillar machines. One was a large track hoe with bars around the doors and windows. It appeared like a machine that could make quick work of lots of trees.

Running With Bears?

Shortly after passing the heavy equipment I checked my watch and noticed that I was approaching 5 miles. That was about the distance I was planning on running before turning around. So I pulled out a GU gel to give me some calories when I spotted it.

There was a small black creature on the road up ahead, so I decided to get a picture. It was fairly obvious, even at a distance that the creature was a baby bear. I figured I was safe to snap a few pics, but then I noticed a larger black creature lumber into the road. This was the mommy bear, and it promptly stood up on its hind legs and looked my direction.

The bear was a ways away from me, but when it stood up it didn’t give me any warm fuzzies. No thought had been given about bears being around the area. I was completely unprepared for this eventuality. Not only did I have my pack off, but a GU in one hand and my phone in the other taking pictures. The Bear standing up looking at me sent feelings of panic through my body. And what happened next sent that panic into action

More Like Running From Bears

The momma bear dropped back to all fours and started running toward me. There was a good distance between us so I had a few moments before my eventual demise. Things seemed to go in slow motion as I tried to remember what to do in a bear attack. Did you run, stand your ground, or play dead? And was that advice about Black Bears, Grizzlys, or other bears? As my brain tried to decide what was what, my fight or flight instinct took over.

With my unzipped running pack and GU in one hand and phone in the other I turned and ran. It was a rather awkward flight I am sure, with bag flailing and dropping its contents on the road. And I may have run faster either before or since, but it seemed like my fastest in a while. I remembered the heavy equipment around the corner and thought that might be my salvation. So running up to the track hoe I climbed up and tried to open the door. The door was locked, my mind chided me for wasting the time and gave me visions of my impending demise.

Ok, Obviously I survived

I started running again and kept it up until I was about a quarter mile down a straight section of road. When I finally risked a look back over my shoulder and saw a completely empty road behind me. I took a deep breath to calm me down and started to easily make my way down the mountain and back home.

When I got back home my Father-in-law told me about how he had speed tested a black bear once. He found that the bear could run over 35 miles per hour. His revelation didn’t make me feel any better, but did make me glad the bear lost interest. This experience got me committed to being more prepared in the backcountry. Now I take Bear Spray and a Bear Bell (Sponsored Product Links) so I won’t go running with bears anymore.