It is so freaky when a bear turns and looks right at you. (I jumped back into my car.)
I stopped at a rest stop, but this little guy was already there. (I didn't get out of my car.)
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13 Comments
Those bears may be a little scary but, at least they didn’t ask you to go to their hot tub!
Maybe that’s why they were scared. I think they thought Jennifer was going to ask them into the hot tub.
bears, bears everewhere!!
if there are that many around, there must be some plentiful food sources around too. bet those rivers and streams are just full of fish!
Thanks guys, now I can’t shake this image out of my head of Jennifer in a hot tub with a big black bear. The bear has his arm around her, and a cigar in his mouth!
Aren’t three of those pictures of grizzlies? Wow! Cool.
p.s. Be careful!!!
Oh, I believe!! I believe!! We rounded a curve on a little traveled road somewhere in B.C. and there was a grizzly resting in the middle of the road. We came to an abrupt stop, watched while he looked at us, slowly got up, left a deposit and walked off into the bushes. Keep on having fun, Jennifer. Thanks for sharing. Belva
One of these days some bright bear is going to figure out can openers, and from then on jumping into the car won’t get it.
They are clever creatures. That one looks like he’s measuring the distance between you. You can just see him thinking “Hmmm. Monkey for breakfast?”
Bob
Small Bears medium Bears large Bears, All of them are very dangerous. VERY FAST! and they can chew through your car if they want to.
They have a saying in Anchorage. ” How do you know a tourist has been on a trail? ” ” you can see the camera in the bear poop.”
Holy hanna! great shots of the bears! be careful out there! ack!!!
I have a bear story. But first, another couple of recommendations dredged from the swamp of my memory.
There are two roads from Watson Lake to Carmacks. I suggest the lower road. First, it allows you to take a vacation from your vacation by wandering down to Skagway. Second, there are a number of really fine large lakes on the way, including Lake Leberge of Service’s poem, and lovely long Teslin. Third, it takes you past Takhini Hot Springs. In general, I can’t pass by a hot spring.
Now for the bear. When I turned off the highway to go to the campground at Leberge, I passed by a little cafe on the right. Really it was no more than a few tables on the porch of a private residence, above a canyon. I came back for breakfast there several times during my stay at the lake. The owner told me that during the previous spring she woke up one morning to a great clatter coming from her kitchen. When she stumbled in there she found herself face to face with a large black bear, who had begun raiding her cabinets. She squeaked, and ducked back into the bedroom to get her shotgun.
But then she took a quick breath and thought about it. If she shot the thing in the house it was going to be the devil to drag outside. She lived alone and had no help. So she just shouted at it and started throwing things. The bear, possibly dimly recognizing the shotgun, decided not to argue and took off for the broken back door through which it had entered. After it cleared the house, she shot in the air a couple of times to keep it running.
She allowed as how it was a mistake not to kill it, as it would only come back some other night, now that it knew the way. But by the time that thought penetrated the fog of adrenaline, the bear had got some distance on her, and she figured she couldn’t hit it anyway.
Such is life in the Yukon. Most of the time you are comfortably alone, but you never know when the odd guest might come calling.
If you stop by, I recommend the pancakes. Even if you don’t camp there, she’s only a few miles off the highway, and the view of the lake from the campground alone is worth the side trip.
Bob
Oops. I meant to include this URL of that picture of Leberge from the campground. A storm was brewing at the time, but most of the visit was sunny and pleasant. I enjoyed watching hundreds of synchronized ducks bobbing for breakfast. Bloop bloop.
What the flock? All gone down at once. Quite the disappearing act.
http://www.arcatapet.net/bobgiddings/North_to_Alaska/images/p1130012.jpg
Bob
Bob – the owner of that cafe was extremely lucky!!! I would like to point out, that is probably not the best thing to do. Not to long ago, the mother of a friend of mine was at home and a bear somehow stumbled into a house coming through sliding glass doors. Nearly mauled her to death. She escaped (scars on face and chest) and was able to call 911 and they tranquilized the bear – was raiding the kitchen/pantry. I do believe they let it loose in the wilderness but it found it way back and then it was killed.
I love those pics you shared Jennifer! My biggest fear going on the road….is bears.
Kari
Lol. I was by no means giving advice on bear confrontation. I was just telling the story as I remember it told to me. She was a feisty sort, and in her own terse way may have been embroidering her role. But even that tells you something about the general attitude of people who choose to live up there year round. They have an air of self sufficiency. Battling bears before breakfast ain’t the half of it.
It seems like deserted country in the summer, but that is nothing to the winter. She was part of a sparse group of ham radio operators that keep track of their distant neighbors in the snow and minus 50 cold, and cooperate with the mounties in emergencies. If I remember correctly, there was a spot nearby that she kept clear all winter for helicopters.
I cannot personally vouch for any of that. She wasn’t what you would call gabby. I sort of had to dig that story out of her. But she certainly knew about all there is to know about pancakes.
Bob