Island bear
by Chris Bridson (continued from page 1)
The three of us paddled around looking to see where the bear had gone, but the island was too big. After about 20 minutes we decided to return to the campsite and see if there was a chance of reclaiming our pack. Being 3 days in, having no food was not a very encouraging thought. Arming ourselves with a couple of paddles, a fish net and a frying pan we cautiously followed a path behind our campsite to the interior of the island. We made a lot of noise along the way so as not to startle the bear and hopefully scare it off. After about 10 minutes of searching, Doug spotted the bear, which had retreated from the pack.
As I strained to see the bear in the thick growth, Doug made a mad dash for the pack and the three of us scrambled back to the campsite. The pack had clearly been mauled and a good portion of the food was gone. The oil container had been punctured which left a mess of the remainder of the pack. We very quickly packed our gear up, left a note on the fire grate that we had encountered the bear at the site and started to make our way home. With a limited amount of food, it was apparent that we would need to cut our trip short.
We were distressed about our food situation, but were excited that we even had the chance to see a bear. Seeing the bear would be a once in a lifetime experience. Well, not really. As I lead the group down a path during one of our return portages, to my dismay I looked up and saw a rather large black bear meandering down the patch towards us. We stared at the bear and the bear stared at us. We picked up a few sticks and threw them in the direction of the bear. Upsetting the bear was not in our plan so we didn't want to hit the bear; we just wanted to scare it. We clapped loudly and yelled, GO BEAR! Reluctantly, it slowly left the trail, disappearing into the bush. We were amazed that we had encountered yet another bear. Since 1989, I have been on several other trips and have yet to see another bear.
Now you may ask, how did the bear get that pack down from the tree? After further investigating the damaged pack, we found that we had hung the pack with the weak, thin straps used to assist lifting the packs onto your partners back. The lifting straps were much weaker and the bear had merely lunged to the pack and hung on it until the straps broke. Now you can see our second mistake, hanging the pack too close to the trees. Trust me, when they give you advice on how to avoid bears, follow it to the tee and you will better your chances of not loosing your food!
Chris Bridson