Grin and Bear It

I went for another trail run on this perfect, perfect day. This time I brought water, and had thoroughly plotted my route ahead of time, so there was no chance of getting lost. I headed up the fire trail, aiming to do a tough climb with a more gentle downhill, totaling about 2 miles, with maybe a .5 mi spur on an intersecting trail.

Last time, I got less than .5 mi up this same trail when I got whupped by the climb (it is seriously steep, even by foothills standards) and decided that I must be on the wrong trail and turned around. This time, I knew for sure that if I stuck it out for another .1 or so, I'd have a nice level run for a bit, and then a more gradual downhill.

As I was in the steepest part and struggling a little to keep running and not slow to an actual walk, I turned a sharp corner and there was a bear!! We weren't more than 15 feet from each other. This isn't the first time I've come across a bear while running (it's the third, see this post for my first sighting, and I don't think I blogged about the second), and since we live in a stone's throw from a national park where we have occasionally seen them while hiking or driving, they're not uncommon. But for whatever stupid reason, I had forgotten to put my RoadID back on my shoe, and I'd left my cellphone in the car and I was by myself, so if that bear was going to get me, it could be who knows how long before anyone found me.

Being mauled is kind of a phobia of mine, though I even hesitate to call it a phobia, because shouldn't one be scared of being mauled? It's not like my phobia of mangoes, which despite the oil in their skin being distantly related to poison ivy is pretty much irrational. No, when you live in bear country, you need to have a healthy respect for them, even though in all my 36 years here, I've never heard of anyone having any problems with bears more significant than the bears destroying garbage cans and bird feeders.

As it was my closest sighting while running, it also seemed the largest, though it's quite possible it actually was the largest of the three since the second one was a cub. My rational mind knew he meant me no harm, and was just meandering about, enjoying the nice weather and snuffling around for whatever it is that bears eat in early spring. Grubs? Rodents? And I didn't have any food on me. So of course, I screamed like a little girl, shouted "OH FUCK!" as loud as I could, turned around and high tailed it back down the trail. The bear, of course, said "WHUMPF!" and turned around and high tailed it back up the trail.

Not wanting to re-encounter the bear, I ran down the hill, and to a different trail which is in sight of the parking lot and fishing docks, where I had the pleasure of seeing fresh bear tracks in the mud. I finally decided not to tempt fate, and tried to head back to the car on the trail closest to the water and the people, but it got narrow enough that the poison ivy was closing in on it, so I just bailed entirely, and committed to getting my feet wet crossing the spillway back to the road.

As time and distance goes, it was pretty much a bust, but my POE was off the charts, and I'm pretty sure I got an awesome, adrenaline induced cardio workout, so I'll take it. Bear and poison ivy and wet feet were still better than knocking around on the treadmill.