Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/17/2013 04:38 PM |
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KM6 of Mt Seymour my ride got briefly interrupted by this encounter.
Funny coincidence in that one of my wife's Italian cousins wagered me a bear (English not being his strong suit) on Nibali-Ryder battle in Giro. Clearly he won.
Other coincidene I managed to prevent a runner from running straight into this bear as she emerged from a forest trail.
Coolish at the top today.
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 05/17/2013 06:37 PM |
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| Another bear story, but without pics, beer or Italians, sorry. Riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway one very early summer morning. A large male black bear saunters onto the road 100 feet in front of me. I stop. He looks over his shoulder at me with a look that says "I've got chunks of guys like you in my stool" and didn't change his pace. I waited till he was well in the woods, out of sight. |
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 05/17/2013 07:32 PM |
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| right place, right time is why we ride. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/17/2013 07:46 PM |
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| About 5-6 yrs ago I had half a dozen bear encounters (3 on this ride, 3 on Cypress) in a single season. Nothing since until today. Couple of those the bear was sitting right in middle of road and we had a stand-off; nothing seems to be able to move these guys except a car passing by. |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 05/17/2013 08:55 PM |
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| Great stuff, OC! |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/17/2013 09:32 PM |
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Thanks. Shit, I just realised that what I claimed as 5-6 yrs ago must have been 10+, pre-kids. Fuck I am getting old.
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roadbuzz
Posts:24
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| 05/18/2013 06:31 AM |
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| 5 or 6 years ago I hit a bear. Riding solo, head down, sprinting, the last thing I remember before going down was a black, furry thing just in front of my wheel. When I came to, somebody asked me what happened, and a guy who saw it said "you hit a bear!" Fortunately, the bear was perfectly happy to be on his way. |
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vtguy
Posts:298
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| 05/18/2013 06:46 AM |
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| OC -- I'm envious. I've lived in bear territory for 35-years and have yet to see one in the wild. Of course I've always hoped that my bear sighting will be while I'm in the car. |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 05/18/2013 10:44 AM |
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COOL! I was working in Metaline Falls, WA one summer and was able to watch bears eating huckleberries almost every evening. There wasn't any single track but the dirt roads were amazing and the wild life abundant (bears, wolves, cougars, lynx, elk, deer, lots of birds).
The bears hardley paid attention to me and never showed any agression.
For agressive bears, I used to visit Hughes Meadows, Priest Lake, ID every spring to watch the Ursus Horribilis. In the '80s we saw Griz every time that we went. I have heard that sightings aren't as frequent now. |
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roadbuzz
Posts:24
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| 05/18/2013 10:57 PM |
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JM, when I was a kid there was a dump near the intersection of 57 and Kalispell Bay Rd. The place would be crowded at night with bear watchers (in cars). Then there was the time my dog tree'd a bear. The bear would climb a little and my dog would run up close, then the bear would slip back down and my dog would back away, barking the whole time. Funny as hell. After 10 minutes we got tired of watching, so no idea how they settled it. I'm guessing the bear got fed up and walked away.
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 05/19/2013 11:56 AM |
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| buzz, where did you grow up? I grew up on Bodie Canyon Road just out of Priest River. A bear slapped the crap out of a lady from CdA so the Forest Circus clamped down on the bears at the dump on Hwy 57. Did you ever go up to Hughes Meadows to see the griz? There was a cool blonde bear that hung out at Beaver Creek eating camp food for several years. She got relocated to Granite Pass/Trapper Creek because she got too friendly. She settled near Shoe Tree and still ate camp food! ;} |
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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| 05/19/2013 12:05 PM |
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| Lots of bears in Whistler. I have not seen any on dog hikes or XC rides yet but on road rides we saw a big fellow the other day. From tha car I have seen many or the same ones multiple times. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/19/2013 12:07 PM |
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Guaranteed bear sightings here in blueberry season when the fields are just crawling with them. You can watch them from the Pitt River dike; took the kids there cycling & bear watching last year. One crossed the dike right in front of us.
Another funny story, when the kids just got their first bikes we took them to Seymour Parkway. I was pushing my boy up the first grade, looking down, trying to keep him balanced. When I looked up there was a bear sitting right in front of us next to the trail less then 5 m way rubbing its back against a tree; I'd almost pushed the kid straight into him. Dropped the bike and slowly backed away, with a Chinese touring group going the other way trying to take pictures up close. The bear couldn't case less about any of it. |
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roadbuzz
Posts:24
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| 05/19/2013 10:52 PM |
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JM, lived several places around Washington state, mostly Moses Lake. We'd go to Luby Bay in the summer. Jeez, lots of memories. Never got to Hughes Meadows. Use to go to the shoe tree and Granite Falls/Roosevelt Grove. A friend of my mom's got a hole in her oil pan taking the road to Metaline Falls that started at Granite Falls. It's a trail now. Then, there was going to Hill's to meet girls, way better than watching bears. ;-)
Was in the area a couple years ago on vacation and drove from Metaline Falls over to Priest and stopped at the shoe tree. A couple weeks later, somebody set it on fire.
http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/news/article_f388ce05-bba4-5652-a21b-7c981f5b1f86.html |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 06/03/2013 02:54 PM |
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| Cool! Lots of great memories of growing up there! Yes, the girls at Hill's! I still visited several times a year because my parents were still there until my dad passed away three years ago and my mom moved to my sister's in Missoula. I still check the daily bee here and there to keep "in touch". I have a really good childhood friend there but he comes to Boise several times a year.
Sorry I missed your reply until today! |
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