Hiking Alone

[ian wright]

I did see a 13th bear in Alaska . . . sort of.
I was hitch-hiking to Exit Glacier and a pick-up truck stopped for me.
As I swung my pack up and into the rear tray I saw there was a full bear skin spread out ! I managed to avoid the meaty bits around the edges.
It was a black bear that had been causing problems and had to be dealt with, had been killed just hours before.
Hitch-hiking always throws up the unexpected.

[Roman Dial]

One perspective on bears is that they are like other animals — dogs, for instance — that read your body language in deciding what to do with you.

You are likely to have more problems with a bear if your body langauge sceams “Fear!” than if you feel confident.

So, if you are not confident alone, or not confident seeing a grizzly while unarmed, then consider arming yourself, be it with rocks & sticks, bear spay, or perhaps heavier gear. Or stay in non-grizz country most often.

Some of us enjoy the excitement of knowing grizz are near, even if we never see them…..

[Shawn Basil]

Ryan Jordan stated “Freedom of the Hills and BSA theology ingrained the awful risks of going solo and it took me a while to deal with that mentally.”

There is tremendous truth in this statement. As a scout, I always heard the “rule of threes”, one to hike for help and one to stay with the victim. Of course the response was always, “what if” the one hiking out was injured got hurt, etc, etc, etc.

Ironically, it was also the BSA that initiated me to solo hiking. As a ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch, we had to hike out solo to get back to base camp and pick up more crews. Some of my most vivid memories were of backpacking a couple of days with just myself to care for as I made my way way “home” to base camp. A hike plan and arrival time were all left with Ragner HQ and the sheer number of scouts tromping the backcountry made this much safer than one would imagine, but it was a great way to begin soloing, with a very intense safety net built in.

Now I mostly only hike solo, as I teach and take my long breaks to cover long sections of trail. I can’t imagine repeating my AT through-hike with a steady partner. The experience of near total freedom was just too liberating without responsibility for someone else.

As for hazards such as grizzly bears and swollen streams, I tend to be pretty cautious when I travel solo. I’ve dealt with both as a NOLS instructor, and there IS a difference in perception (and I believe in reality as well) when facing these dangers alone. I’m honestly more nervous about stream crossings while solo than bears. With bears there is a psychological element to both parties. A rushing early June stream just doesn’t care how prepared or non-threatening you look. I will give both as much space as I can manage when I hike solo.

[Roman Dial]

Arctic Grizz: hungry, curious, and above all grumpy….

[paul johnson]

Nice pic. Even at the distance involved, the hump b/t the shoulder blades looks visible if i’m not mistaken.

Please tell us more about the “grumpy” part. At home with my wife, i usually inject a little levity to diffuse an otherwise tense situation. However, i doubt if the bear got a bit worked up, like i can get my wife worked up, i would be better off using levitation instead of levity! What did y’all do in this particular case?

Also, as i’m not really familiar with anything to do with the Alaskan landscape, i don’t really have a frame of reference for estimating distance from the bear. So, how far were y’all.

[Roman Dial]

The grumpy part….arctic bears seem to have a more difficult life than the coastal brownnies. Coastal brownies are well fed and happy. Artci bears seem hungry and testy. They follow you and run overa nd test ypu to see if you are prey and that is unnerving.

Coastal brown bears like on the Alaska Peninsula and Kenai, by and large (of course with exceptions — e.g. Tim Treadwell!) do not run over and challenge every human they meet, which seems to be what Arctic bears do. Again, I think one the are hungry and two they rarely get shot at by humans so they check us out.

No doubt grizz can be playful, but this one — maybe 50 yards away? — came running for us from a quarter mile or more away and then pushed on us. We had no choice but to stand our ground and yell and wave our poles and our one puny can of bear spray.

Maybe this doesn’t belong here as it was a “we” situation — but even if an only “me” or solo situation, standing ground and being fearless (or pretending to be) is a language even a grumpy bear understands. And as you can see there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Once the bear left we left too, in a hurry, and keeping out of sight.

That is what I would have done if solo as well — that, and cleaned my pants.

[ROBERT TANGEN]

Judging from his Avatar photo, Mr. Dial is hinting to his employer that he doesn’t make enough to buy new laces. If that doesn’t work for him, maybe we can take up a collection for some Kevlar laces?

[Roman Dial]

Please, all collections, donations, and pay raises accepted!

Heh, but don’t those Saloman shoes look pretty good after 600 miles of off-trail walkin?

[ROBERT TANGEN]

Well, considering they were downhill ski boots when you started, there doesn't seem to be much left. Seriously, I love my Pro trail shoes because the little flare-out around the heel prevents almost all of those dreaded ankle flip outs, at least for me. Did you like the skinny little laces, or would you prefer a more conventional lacing system?

[Roman Dial]

Robert,

Both shoes' laces did wear out — but i was able to tie a little bowline to fix em. This was a small bit to pay for the convenience of the tie-less cordlock and fray-less laces.

I am sold on them, but I know others are not. Erin M's husband Hig, for example. Or Jason Geck: here are his shoes after 550 miles. I would not have traded mine for his, nor he. To each their own. Shoes, like food and river crossing techniques seem to be a pretty personal decision.

And the Salomans for comparison…..

[Author]

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