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Since this has gotten a little off topic and turned into frightening animal encounters, I have to refer to a post I made last June:
Last September I was hiking at a local park in the foothills near my home in Monrovia, Ca. I had been hiking there every evening. The park was closed and I was alone. I heard a lot of rustling leaves on a bluff above my head as I rounded a steep switch back and thought it must be squirrels or birds. After passing the area and walking about 20-30 yards, I was standing face to face with a baby brown bear. It was like it just magically appeared in front of me. He just looked at me as if to say "You just screwed up big time". Before my next foot step even hit the pavement I thought "SHYT!!!!! that rustle in the leaves (which was 20 or so yards behind me now) is the mother bear!
I pivoted and walked as silently as I could back the way I came. It was surreal. I got all the way to the switchback so the bluff was directly over my head and suddenly all HELL broke loose. The mother exploded over my head on the bluff toward me and I firckin changed tactics and sprinted down the road. The mother was still on the hill as she took to chase ripping through brush and small trees making a sound that was so powerful and amazing I was astounded. The hill and road gradually became separated by a gully. I had to sprint for about 60 yards before she stopped. I was thinking, "this is bad, this is really bad! By the grace of the hillside, the gully, the heavy brush, and poor decision making by the mother bear I escaped a big time mauling by a very angry mother brown bear.
I have hiked that trail a couple times since just to face the fear, but I really don't frequent it any more. It was pretty unnerving.
Mike
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