Man and dog hike the length of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline—over 800 miles from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay, south to north. Sounds incredible.
That final night, I camped in the same spot I had 20 years ago, my tent footprint covering the same gravel. The evening was stunning and unlikely: warm, with no breeze, and somehow no mosquitoes.
There, as I was heating water for my second cup of tea, I noticed a blond smudge on the tundra.
Grizzly. Just the second bear seen in 95 days. It was far enough that Cora did not notice it, but a primal thrill ran through me.
The breeze was blowing from the bear toward us. It had not yet detected us but was wandering closer. To push the action, I banged a rock on the half-inch steel of a pipeline vertical support member.
The bear raised its head. I walked beneath the pipe, so the bear could see movement. It seemed to be studying us for a second. Then its head tilted to the ground, perhaps sniffing out a ground squirrel.
I continued to prepare for the night in the tent. As I did every night when the pipeline was above ground, I threw a length of parachute cord over the four-foot tube. I attached the cord with a slipknot to the bag that held my food and Cora’s dog pack. Then I pulled the bag atop the pipeline and tied off the cord to a vertical support member.
I spent the next hour watching the bear wander. It disappeared over bumpy tundra, heading for a lake the GPS said was three miles away.
My heart rate slowed as Cora and I entered the tent. The bear had made the decision I hoped.
Quite a hike. Not sure if i am just missing it, but was this just a one off entry or does he chronicle the whole hike?
ReplyDeleteRe: bear bags. A couple of long distance hikers that I follow dont believe in bear bags, thinking that they really dont do any thing. I think there is only one time I was in an area I thought I needed it, and used one and hung it away from my tent. Better safe than sorry IMO.
Brian
Good question. I think this is the final post of a series of posts, but I didn't look for the series. The guy got sponsored to do the hike, so it stands to reason that he took photos and wrote entries all along the way.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've seen some debate about bear bags, but I've noticed that there're debates about everything. Look at YouTube: one video says, "Do planks this way for a stronger core," then another video says, "Stop doing planks!" Whom to believe, especially when two parties both claim to be "experts"?
This brings back memories. When I was in my late teens, my older brother and I went backpacking in Yosemite National Park. The designated campsites had cables stretched between trees to elevate your "bear bag." I recall as we arrived at a camp, a mama bear and her cub (not grizzlies) walked through the site. That gave me the willies. And then, during the night, we heard shouts in the distance, "There's a bear in our tent!"
ReplyDeleteThe next morning, my brother and I both agreed that hiking back out was our best option.
I returned to Yosemite later that same year in an RV and had a much better time.