Sounds like Forrest Gump but this wasn't a movie, this was real life. The memory came back to me yesterday on my lunch hour run. It's Fall in Slave Lake and when I run in daylight I forget my fears and head out to my favorite spot, up to the cemetery. That sounds kind of creepy but it's the only hill we have and the best view of the town, Dog Island, the lake and Marten Mountain. I love running up there in every season and it gives me the best workout in a quick run.
The hill has three parts. The first part is paved up to the T-intersection. Here you can keep going up on the gravel road as far as Flatop which is 20 km away. That's a little too far for me and you are getting into serious bush country/forest. In the spring, summer and fall I don't feel comfortable going by myself into the bush, I am not what you would call a “Forest” person or “bush woman”. Many of my friends are, like MJ who is a Forest Educator. They feel confident walking about in the bush, knowing what to do when they come across a large animal. Me, I am a bit more wary.
But that was the problem, I wasn't wary yesterday. It was noon, the sun was up and it was a cool Fall day. I wasn't worried about any animals, thinking I was safe in broad daylight and not heading into the bush. I was just going to be skirting the edge because at the top of the paved part, I turn right and go up a little hill and follow the road up the last steep hill to the cemetery. The bush is there, but on the edge and there is enough traffic on the road during the day with teenagers zooming up in their cars and zooming back down again. I never quite know what the attraction is, but it seems to be “the” place to go at noon if you have a car. I worry more about those cars because they are full of kids trying to race each other up and down the hill and they don't notice the lonely runner on the road.
So there I was, just hitting the gravel part of the road at the top of the first hill, doing some fancy footwork (really – I was doing side running), not paying any attention to what was ahead and when I finally looked up, there he/she was, no more than 150 feet away from me, a big black bear lumbering across the road and heading into the bush, going the direction I was turning. The bear would be traveling parallel to me if I went up the next part of the road. It took me a few moments to figure out what I was seeing and then the shock, the fear and the part of me wanting to turn and run FAST kicked in! Thanks to MJ's training, I knew what to do, slowly put my hands up in the air, walked backwards and started talking loudly, saying things like, “It's okay Mr. Bear, I am just going to go back down the hill and not bother you anymore” and so on. The Bear? He/she (I didn't stop to check), couldn't have cared less, it lumbered across into the bush and didn't even look up at me. It did what most bears do especially when they are well fed, it went on with its business. We really aren't their meal of choice.
And that brings me back to my memory of another Fall day, very early in the morning (like 5 am), many years ago. I was running with Pat on the trails and we had just entered the part where it is bush by the creek. We were talking to each other, not paying attention when all of a sudden we hear this crashing in the bush right beside us. We couldn't see what it was because it was so dark, but it sounded BIG. This was no beaver that we occasionally saw on the trail and it seemed bigger than a deer. That left a moose, which I have never seen in town or a BEAR. We had surprised whatever it was and it was facing the same direction we were so that when it started running it was going the same way we were running. I can still hear Pat yelling, Run Edith Run!, and I did. I think I would have broken records that day with my run, the adrenaline kicked in and I ran faster than I ever have before or since. I could hear Pat behind me still yelling to run and I kept going till we couldn't hear the crashing anymore. I am sure we scared that animal just as much as were scared and he is probably telling the same stories to his friends. That's why I now run on the road if I go in the mornings in the Fall. We usually have a few bears that come into town along the trail this time of year, looking for berries and other food, loading up for hibernation.
Yesterday reminded me that we live close to the bush and that wild animals are a part of our environment. We need to pay attention and remember that this is their territory too and if we take precautions (make noise and leave the area where they are), we can co-exist. And I wouldn't want it any other way because at the end of the day, it's pretty cool that you get a glimpse of these amazing animals in their habitat.
I'm still running…
