Last month I was in BC Canada and I hiked the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Great trip and some of the best hiking memories I've had. One thing that I had never experienced before was the constant talk of black bears and cougar, with signs all along the trail warning walkers to be careful and with lengthy descriptions of how dangerous they are (there are black bears in Japan, too, and earlier this year a famous Japanese mountaineer was mauled by one while running in the mountains near his home, so I'm aware of the possibility of danger) and basically making everyone feel as if every shadow needs to have an eye kept on it. But then, upon coming back here, I read Andrew Skurka's account of his Alaska trip and all the bears he saw and that didn't deter him from just going on with his trip.
My question for my future walks in such places, to those of you who have a lot of experience in bear and cougar country, just how much does one really have to worry? Was most of my fear in my head? Sleeping in an open-ended tarp definitely made me aware of the surroundings and one night when I heard my hiking partner suddenly snore in his tent I woke up terrified it was a bear, switched on my headlamp, and saw two glowing eyes staring at me not five meters away… a moment later turning out to be a raccoon. Another night I woke up to something moving on my chest and came face-to-face with a mouse… that nearly made me jump out of my skin! But no bears. Or cougars. Do I just need to get used to such surroundings and relax? Or is the constant fear justified?
