Thursday, September 11, 2008

Bear Alert for Rabbit Lakes Area

For those Anchorage-ites out there: There was another grizzly bear charge on the back-side of Flat Top/Rabbit Lakes trail head on Tuesday. The trail is expected to re-open Friday, but I'm going to stay away from that area for a while.

I've become a bear wuss this summer after my teenage neighbor was mauled during a mt. bike race and after reading stories from numerous other runners who were charged or mauled while out on the Hillside trails. I do enjoy seeing bears, but only from a safe distance. I have avoided the Campbell creek part completely and have only gone out on the other Hillside trails with a large group...and a can of bear spray. I have no shame in carrying it around anymore, especially after seeing a bear less than 15ft away last week. I whipped out my pepper spray and held it up, ready to fire. Of course, the bear did nothing more than look at us and move away, but this was a good thing--I like "normal" bear behavior.

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