Date: 2011-05-17
From: (57) Man Week, Day 1: Pinefield Hut

To: (58) Man Week, Day 2: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: moderate rain

~ MAN WEEK DAY 2: LEMUR FIGHTS A BEAR ~Today was terrible. It had rained the entire night, the entire morning, and everything was wet and muddy.I sat in the shelter until 11am watching the downpour and dreading that I would have to hike through it. Then I pulled on my cold wet clothes, wet socks, wet shoes, and started packing up. Knowing that I would be submerging myself in water the second I walked out, I packed my gear a little differently than usual to keep it dry. I did this by shoving my entire sleeping pad into my pack, and then lining the rest of the space inside with a trash bag which I filled with everything that I did not want to get. Everything fit, and I was confident that it would keep dry.The rain let up at 12pm and I hit the trail. My feet were instantly water logged, and would stay that way for the remainder of the day. It rained on and off as I went, numbing my hands but nothing too bad. Then as I was nearing another shelter the storm started dumping buckets and the thunder picked up, so I quickened my pace until I was inside. I sat in the shelter eating lunch and waiting for a calm in the storm. I had only made it 8 miles so far, and did not think that I could live with myself if I called it quits. When the rain slowed I headed back out and shortly after it stopped all together. For the first time all day, I was enjoying myself. I had been walking and daydreaming for some time that evening when I heard a crash ahead of me. I looked up and saw three black bears, a mamma and two cubs, running through the woods to my right. ¢Yay¢ I cried, ¢Bears!¢ I was ecstatic over the opportunity to see bears in the woods, and I watched them as I walked. (I would have taken pictures, but my camera was buried in my pack because of the rain) Then I saw movement in my peripherals, and looked forward to see that there were 4 more cubs ahead of me, fleeing for their lives down the trail. To my right, momma bear was following along beside me. The cubs kept running on and off the trail so that I could hardly keep track of their whereabouts, but I saw two of them leave the path to climb trees, and a third run off to join its mother. I walked past them, thinking that all of the cubs were behind me, but momma bear was still following me. I looked ahead again, and saw that the last mentally challenged cub was still in front of me, running down the path instead of off of it. At this point, I was completely encompassed by bears, but chose to keep moving forward towards the last cub. Surely it would get off the trail as the others had.After running on and off of the path several times, the runt cub finally had a stroke of genius and climbed a tree. Unfortunately, it chose a tree right against the trail, and only climbed halfway up so that it was eye level with me (Worst escape ever!). At the same time, momma bear moved out from where she had been hiding in the foliage to stand by her cub, practically on the path and less than 15 feet away. I stopped dead in front of her, my way blocked. (To top things off, I was now between her and her other cubs.)I felt myself go into fight or flight mode. Every hair on my body stood on end, adrenaline surged through my veins, and time slowed down. I was not afraid at all, but I was ready for action. In the most fluid motion you can possibly imagine, I unbuckled my pack straps and scooped up a baseball sized rock from the ground. At last I had found her: sweet, sweet destiny.I stood, with my legs apart and free hand ready to drop my pack or use it as a shield. A second passed, and then the bear moved towards me, closing the distance between us at an alarming rate! I spread my arms and screamed with all the fierceness I could muster. ¢ARRGGHHHHH!!!¢ The bear froze, and I charged straight at her, cocking my rock arm back in order to bash her skull in. Momma bear fell for my bluff, turned, and retreated into the woods. I passed the last cub; it was still clinging at eye level to the tree. I could have reached out and touched it (or punted the stupid thing off a cliff). I continued down the trail until I was at a safe distance before stopping and looking back. The trees behind me were dotted with bear cubs, too afraid to move. ¢Yeah!¢ I shouted. ¢I¢m king of the mountain baby! Top of the food chain!¢ Momma bear had re-positioned herself between me and her cubs, and I threw the rock at her before continuing on my way.It rained again before I reached the shelter. I only own one set of clothes, and it was getting dark out, so I needed to be careful to keep them dry. I ended up pulling the waist of my shorts to my belly button and taking my shirt off completely. I looked like I was hiking naked under the trash bag poncho, but luckily I did not pass anyone. I reached the shelter at dusk, completely spent. I went to bed dry, and I did not bear bag.~The second day of MAN WEEK was 20.6 miles through rain, mud, and bears, while wearing little more than a trash bag! MAAANNNNNN WEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!~