Date: 2004-05-31
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brinks Road Shelter
Miles today: 14.3

I have been thinking about the best possible way to tell this story. I think to properly tell it I need to go back and tell you about a conversation that took place with Lulu, Smoky and I a number of weeks ago. Smoky had told us the story about the lady that had been killed by a bear in the Smoky Mountains two years ago. Smoky had been a ridge runner there at the time and new some of the details. A ridge runner is a person who travels a section of trail, stays in the shelters and ensures that hikers are practicing ¢no trace¢ hiking. Ridge runners work 5 days a week and are provided housing.So¢¦ Smoky suggests to Lulu that she should become a ridge runner when she finished her thru-hike. Lulu says, ¢Yes, I can see myself telling the hikers to stand back when a bear comes near. Stand back, Lulu will handle the bear.¢ Those were her exact words.Ok, with that background, I think you¢ll better appreciate what happened today. We had hiked about 6 or 7 miles. I had been hiking ahead of Lulu, which was pretty normal. I had been listening to my radio with headphones and was probably several hundred yards ahead of Lulu when I saw a good spot for lunch.So I stopped took of my pack, and dug out my food bag. I was going to have some peanuts and cookies for lunch today. My radio was a little too loud, but I thought I heard Lulu call for me. I took off the headphones and called, ¢Lulu.¢ The response was immediate. I heard, ¢PILGRIM!!! BEAR!!!¢ I would describe the sound of Lulu¢s voice as terrified. I grabbed my hiking poles and ran towards her location, which sounded like at least 150 yards away. I kept calling to her so she would know when I was getting close to her. Her voice was near panic level and I tried to reassure her that she would be ok. I got to the point in the trail where I could see her. She was clanking her hiking poles together over her head. She was looking to the right of the trail. I didn¢t see a bear when I looked in that direction, all the time getting closer to her pretty quickly. I said, ¢Where is the bear?¢ Then she looked over her shoulder and screamed that it was still behind her. I wasn¢t in a position to be able to see that direction because of brush that was in my way. In a split second, I was there and the bear must have heard me coming because it had already moved very quickly away. I could hear him breaking through the brush. Lulu took a little calming down to say the least. We walked towards my lunch spot. I made light of the situation by saying that I left my cookies on a rock unguarded. By the time Lulu and I got back to my pack, she had calmed down some. She told me how the bear had crossed the trail right in front of her. That¢s when she first starting yelling for me. She said that the bear went over and sat down. It just watched her yell and crack her poles together. In fact, she said it sat down and tilted his head to one side (as if to say, ¢What¢s your problem, lady?¢). We now started to laugh at the situation and I decided that this was the time to remind Lulu of what she would do when she became a ridge runner in the Smokies. ¢Stand back, Lulu will handle the bear.¢ I told her that I didn¢t think that was what I had heard her yell. I heard, ¢PILGRIM, BEAR!!!¢ We had a big laugh. Alls well that ends well. Living the Dream.