I hope Mr Bear wasn't very hungry. You weren't on the trail at the time, were you? Are you going anywhere near Jasper this summer?
Yes, I was on the trail with my guide. It was an amazing experience! The bear stood up on its hind legs when it saw us. It was probably hungry, as it was digging roots. Grizzlies never attack humans for food; only to defend cubs or food. It's very unfortunate that so many people think they are aggressive. The bear kept an eye on us, as grizzlies fear people. Grizzly attacks are nearly always the result of a jogger or cyclist surprising them. Exceptions to this are rare. Lightning kills many times more people, and driving to the mountain is far more dangerous than any wild animal. I have not seen that sign, but I've heard it as a joke, but in the version I heard, the grizzly scat contains bells and empty cans of pepper spray. FWIW, those bells are often called dinner bells. Human voices frighten grizzly bears, but tinkle bells arouse their curiosity. I hiked around Jasper last year, but not this year. It's funny how people will avoid very small risks while taking much bigger ones. We fear the unfamiliar more than the really dangerous. A day in the city is far more dangerous than a day in the woods, except maybe in hunting season. I'll take a grizzly bear over an SUV driver with a cell phone any day of the week!
daniel, you are correct, as always, our fear is determined by how an event is treated in the media...car accidents, lightning, etc... all are considered unavoidable facts of life (TOTAL BS btw)... but anything that has to do with wild animals is treated as a much more dangerous situation...but in reality, those situations are simply extremely rare... its like shark attacks. if we are unfortunate enough to have two in a period of a few days, its major news and its treatment creates huge widespread panic...fact is, shark attacks are so rare that having two so close to each other is unusual and nothing more, not a developing trend as some news agencies would suggest
Ironic, isn't it, how much more civilised 'wilderness' is. I hunch what people fear in 'the middle of nowhere' is their own emptiness.
I completely agree with you and am sure the sign is a joke, notice it's from a campground and not an official Canadian GVT issued sign. Yes, it is interesting how people subject themselves to much greated dangers than what they are afraid of.
That is absolutely true. Fearing the right things is a rare gift for humans. Your last sentence would make a nice bumper sticker. I have spent some excellent time browsing to all the beautiful pictures you have posted in this thread. Do I envy you! I'm at work right now, and my next holiday is still a few months away. So keep them coming, all those amazing sights!
Thanks, moi. The first two are of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Apparently it's quite rare to see the entire mountain cloud-free, so I'm lucky. (Well, there was a nine hour drive involved, and a day and a half waiting for the rain to go away, but never mind.) I swear there was a duck in the third shot, which is of Kinney Lake, named after the man who attempted the climb six times and finally made it, only to be told years later that he stopped 60 feet too short, and the honour of first ascent was given to someone else. I have more shots of nearby Jasper that I may post when I have the chance.
I'm back home. I took fewer and fewer pictures as the time went on, since it was more and more the same stuff. I never get tired of hiking the same trails, but I do get tired of seeing pictures of the same places. Here's a cropped version of the bear photo, in order to meet PC's size limitation:
