(how to survive a blackbear) |
Location:
south of Anchorage
Features:
mountains, glaciers, streams, lakes
we survived...the backpack not!
Anyway...as you might already have guessed, we DID encounter a black bear. Our intension was to hike the Peninsula on the Resurection Trail from Seward to Hope, in the northern part. The guys at the National Forest Information in Seward assured us, that the trail was in a good condition, maybe a little bit muddy in places and not really well maintained, but 'It'll be ok'. Well...apparently they forgot to tell us about the flooding, which occured a while ago. So, after 2 days of hiking, the trail simply vanished and we were looking at a big stream.
looking for the holy path
We eventually made it back on a normal trail and continued hiking towards north. Only half an hour later, we realized that we were not alone anymore. Only 50 yards back on the trail was a big black bear, keeping constant pace with us. Our first idea to double the pace turned out to be not a good one. The bear didn't seem to have a problem with our new speed. Shouting, clapping and making a lot of noise didn't help either. So our last chance was to stop and wait for the things to happen.
Two hours later we decided to go back to the place of crime with the hope that the bear was gone by now...well...what shall I say...he was still sitting on top of a backpack!
Fortunately at that very moment, we met a couple coming from the other direction. We couldn't believe our luck, since we haven't been meeting people for days on that trail. Plus, they carried a gun, which turned out to be of no big help. The guy fired six rounds in the direction of the bear...nothing happened. The bear didn't even react. So we finally lined up and shouted and screamed and waved and did whatever came into our minds...and eventually made the bear take off...really fast by the way.
The whole story might read like a funny experience...but believe me, it's NOT!!! When the bear stood 12 feet in front of me, I heard my heart pounding like I never heard it before...at the end, we were very lucky that he only got our backpacks...
Seward provides a beautiful background with the Kenai Mountains and the Exit Glacier close by is always worth a short sidetrip.
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Exit Glacier |
A view miles north of Seward starts a trail to the Resurection Pass in the Kenai Mountains. It makes a good one day hike and is fairly easy to moderate. The view from a closeby summit is really outstanding and defenitely worth the trip. |
views from Resurection Pass
The only way to get there is by boat. It's quite expensive plus we didn't have enough time for a hike, so we had to be satisfied by the fantastic views from the Homer side to the Kenai Mountains.
Kachemak Bay
Chugach Mountains