Buckaroo Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Drove to the Canadian Rockies last week to beat my head against a climb I've tried about 5 times and have still not succeeded on, Mt Alberta has turned into my nemesis. The new snow level was down to about 9,000' so it was on to plan B, that would be the 50 crowded climbs, Mt. Sir Donald. Having dallied around Banff buying some needed gear that was forgotten back at the house, made it to the trailhead about 2:00pm. Registered with the rangers, pack up the gear and set out on the Mt. Sir Donald trail. There had been a bear siting earlier in the day, about a mile away from this trail. But I figured bears move pretty fast and it will be long gone. Hiked up this pretty trail and bivied at 6,500 feet at about 7:00pm. On a grassy alpine bench with boulders which was approached by a somewhat steep rocky slope. Take the boots and knee brace off and lie in the sleeping bag and bivy sack, sort of dozing before dinner and just thinking random thoughts. The pikas are squeaking and I see them every so often. A small mink weasel type animal comes out of the dwarf evergreens on the edge of the bench, appearing and disappearing a couple of times, brown with white down the front. It's curious but afraid to be noticed. At some point either it's my guardian angel(demon), or the lyrics just by chance run through my head...."hard rain's gonna fall".... hmmm. So I'm dozing/daydreaming and hear this snort/sniff, is it dream or real? I look to the bushes but it's too loud for the little mink, besides it was really shy, what is that noise? Sniff is heard again, louder, coming from downslope, I turn to the right. BEAR!!, GRIZZLY!!! OH SHI*!!!. It seems sort of small, It's on all fours and front profile towards me. I think it's a cub and "oh damn, where's the mother". I stand up (in my socks), I yell, not very loud, "hey" and it stops about 20' away. It seems startled like it didn't see me till I yelled. It hesitates for just a second then continues walking toward me and sniffing. I grab my pack, which has boots, helmet, and headlamp, and the food bag and back slowly upslope maintaining the 20' distance. The bear stops at the bivy, sniffing loudly. When it does I start running upslope to try to get enough distance to put on my boots, about 60' to 70'. I get up to what I think is far enough and turn around, the bear is charging me, and stops about 12' away and rears up on it's hind legs, front legs up and growling. It's about 4' to 5' high, definitely not a cub. I freeze and in a normal voice say "hey" thinking, "this is it, I'm dead meat"...but it's a bluff charge. Out of the corner of my eye I see two cubs down on the rocky approach to the alpine bench. I was running parallel to them and the sow thought I was a threat. VERY FAST, she covered the 60' 70' uphill in about 4 or 5 bounds and 3 or 4 seconds. Seconds after the bluff charge she drops down the rocky slope to the cubs and shoes them back further away from me. I put my boots on lacing them with lightning adrenaline speed. But the bears are between me and the descent and it's about 20 min to dark. Things are looking very desperate at this point, can't imagine trying to escape uphill. Even though the bear can outrun me in any direction, it seems the chances are better going downhill. Think, quick, it's sniffing for food, I take out some of the food, adrenaline hurling it uphill above the bears, trying not to look like I'm throwing it at them. The bread, 3 ripped open GU packs actually are aerodynamic and get out there pretty far. Sniffing all three bears go towards the food and I quickly go back down to the bivy, and at lightning adrenaline speed stuff everything in the back pack and put on the kneebrace, 5 velcro straps in 5 seconds. DAMN where's the headlamp, found and thrown on the helmet. DAMN!!! The bears aren't very distracted by the food, OH NO!!! Within less than a minute they come up on the alpine bench, sniffing, where I put on the boots, but I'm almost done packing. The cell phone falls out on the ground a couple times, augggh. They start toward me and the bivy, I dump out the rest of the food at the bivy, and the water to lose weight and with a couple loose items in hand, bail downhill. Below the bivy is a pretty steep rocky brushy slope. I half slide half fall down it, grabbing bushes, about 30' down then start traversing onto the rocky slope towards the descent trail. I run so fast that I fall and almost smack my face on the rocks. Breathe, turn it down just one half notch, don't need a twisted ankle now. But it's been drizzling just a little bit and the rock here is unusually slippery when wet, even with sticky rubber on. Traversing on the steep slope with loose rocks is hard too but the only way to go because of steep cliffs below. About 100' away I finally turn, they are all at the bivy sniffing around it. 200' away turn again, still at the bivy, 300' look again, still at the bivy, THEY AREN'T IN PURSUIT!! Apparently I'm not a threat and I've left all the food so am not worth pursuing. I don't stop running for about a mile, looking back periodically. Then the last mile through the forest in the dark, fast walk and run. Running downhill with a 35 pound pack, (my thighs are killing me for 3 days after.) And going to sleep in the car. The whole encounter from the bear first walking up till I was 300' away lasted about 3 or 4 (?) minutes tops, but it seemed like an agonizing eternity. ............................... 3 dumb rookie mistakes, although I'm not a rookie. Too many irons in the fire leads to a jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe a potentially deadly pastime like alpine climbing needs and deserves more than a part time divided attention. Bears were sighted in the area earlier that day, when bears are feeding they don't move that fast, maybe cubs even slower. Dumb-as* me decided to do the climb anyway. Kept food at bivy, biggest mistake and I know better, should be at least 100 yards and downwind. Bivy in prime bear terrain, wrong elevation and at top of tree line. If you ever want to set new speed records for getting your gear ready or descending a climb, just have a grizzly chase you around. ................................... "Alive" Son, she said, have I got a little story for you What you thought was your daddy was nothin' but a... While you were sittin' home alone at age thirteen Your real daddy was dyin', sorry you didn't see him, but I'm glad we talked... Oh I, oh, I'm still alive Hey, I, I, oh, I'm still alive Hey I, oh, I'm still alive Hey...oh... Oh, she walks slowly, across a young man's room She said I'm ready...for you I can't remember anything to this very day 'Cept the look, the look... Oh, you know where, now I can't see, I just stare... I, I'm still alive Hey I, but, I'm still alive Hey I, boy, I'm still alive Hey I, I, I, I'm still alive, yeah Ooh yeah...yeah yeah yeah...oh...oh... Is something wrong, she said Well of course there is You're still alive, she said Oh, and do I deserve to be Is that the question And if so...if so...who answers...who answers... I, oh, I'm still alive Hey I, oh, I'm still alive Hey I, but, I'm still alive Yeah I, ooh, I'm still alive Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 glad you're OK. I hate bears. you fed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckaroo Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 I know it's wrong to feed them, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do. Some years back I was using a Whisperlite and thinking you could light it in the primer condition so the flame would be large and orange/yellow and scare them away that way. But since then I've been using a canister stove, and this method would be dangerous in dry forest conditions. Wonder about bear repellent, probably just make a momma bear madder. From now on avoidance of sighting areas and food hang away from bivy will be methods of choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Yikes! Sounds like a near miss. Glad you got away unscathed, but those bears now associate climbers with food. Not sure what else you could have done... The mink/weasel may be a martin. Very handsome snaffle that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Switch back to white gas and when they charge you, throw some gas on the ground between you and light it. I remember at one of his slide shows John Clarke was describing how a griz was checking out his tent once during a storm bound couple of days up on one of the icefields (of course he had food and gas in the tent with him) and how he threw a whole 2L bottle of fuel out the door and lit it hoping the tent wouldn't get torched... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plexus Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 If it was the Orange Dream flavor Gu, I think you prevented the momma from ever bugging climbers again. Nothing could like the flavor of that stuff!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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