Hiking with Grizzlies
Well, you know I would have loved to have seen a grizzly bear and gotten a good photograph of one while I was in Alaska. But from a safe distance. I did not really want to encounter one while hiking, especially a Grizzly mom with her cubs. Especially an agressive Grizzly mom. Especially an agressive Grizzly mom that had been known to have recently charged other hikers. And thus, I came to the trailhead at South Fork Eagle River Falls and encountered the sign as shown below. Hmmm …
But you see there was a waterfall here that I really really wanted to see. Should I just turn back because of this sign? Or should I continue and hike to the waterfall? Of course, I would continue.
You may think it was very dangerous for me to go hiking alone in known grizzly territory as such. But it was a calculated risk, and I determined it to be very minimal. I knew from talking to a couple of bikers that the grizzly was seen 3 or 4 miles away, and the waterfall was only a half-mile in. They had just been to the falls and had not seen anything. So I determined it was safe enough to continue. But I was still a bit nervous hiking into the falls, and I was making noise and whistling the whole way. I really had nothing to worry about though. I saw no sign of any grizzly. Even so, I did not spend much time at the falls. I would have definitely liked to have spent more time here, and try to get down to the base of the falls. That would have taken a bit of time though, and I figured it might just be pushing my luck. So I just opted to take my photo from the viewpoint and go right back to the car.
When I got back to the trailhead, I saw a couple joggers heading out on the trail. They were obviously locals and had no care about seeing any grizzlies. I told them the grizzly had been seen 3 miles in, and they obviously were going a lot further than just a half-mile to the falls. But they had no worries whatsoever. You gotta love them Alaskans.
Sign at trailhead. Note the masterful spelling job. 🙂
