There’s a Grizzly Living Behind Your Outhouse
There we were, at the beginning of the (first) trailhead that would take us to our dream destination. A remote lakeside cabin.
Trekking through mud with heavy packs was secondary to the fact that the setting was relaxing. Peaceful. Quiet.
Several miles into our big hike, we hadn’t seen a single person. Then – at about mile 5 – that changed in a big way. We knew we were in for something interesting when we saw guns leaning up against a tree.
Two tough looking guys, decked out in military grade camouflage, were slumped between two logs. They were talking with an older woman who was passing by. We heard the word “bears” several times and knew we had to stop. Yes, even with guns in the mix.
It turns out that the guys had been in the area for several days. Why? Because it’s prime bear hunting territory. They were on a mission to kill black bears (it’s illegal to kill grizzlies without a guide, so they said) for their skins “and some meat” for good measure.
We were shocked, pissed, scared and a few other things.
“You guys military? Where you heading to?” One asked.
“No, we’re just going up to the forest service cabin about five more miles ahead.” I said, trying to veil the fear and contempt in my eyes.
“Oh, that’s the cabin we just based out of for a few days.”
We endured a couple more minutes of Rambo time and then made quick work of getting the hell out of there as fast as we could.
“You gotta be careful. There’s a grizzly living behind your outhouse.” One shouted as we scooted up the trail.
Hell to the no.
We tried to put that interaction out of our minds as we trekked towards the cabin. It was gorgeous; we especially enjoyed the autumn colors that were just beginning to emerge in the area.
Nearing the lake, the setting just got more and more placid. Plus, our excitement grew, as we knew this meant we were getting close to our base station.
Wouldn’t you know – upon hitting the stairs leading to the door – we started talking about the warning that those guys had left us with. Was there a grizzly chilling in our temporary hood?
We were about to find out.
Please share a time when you were scared out of your mind 
That would be scary! Beautiful photos too
Thanks, Michael. It was overcast but beautiful (and eerie) with all of the fog.
I would have been upset too-I hate it when people kill for pure sport.
Last time I was scared out of my mind involved a huge spider and me running and screaming out the front door of my home.
We’re kinda out of it as far as all things hunting go. We had no idea that you could kill bears ANYWHERE. We were shocked.
The next photo I want to see is of you guys in bear fur coats and hats!
Maybe the bear will find them first
Hope you got some sleep!
Wouldn’t THAT be an interesting end to this story.
Hell to the yes! You have pretty much promised us a juicy bear/outhouse story. I will be sitting here tapping my fingers till your next post…
Yes, there’s nothing like keeping you on the edge of your seat with a good bear/outhouse suspense thriller. HINT: I am able to use the computer, so the outcome can’t be TOO bad
It’s sad to know that hunting is still a big thing over there. However, I would have loved to photograph the bear if I saw one
Agreed. Photos of bears (at a distance) are awesome.
Oh you guys, I can’t believe you left us hanging! I also have a scary bear story from Vancouver Island which I will be sharing in the next few weeks.
Yikes! i’m always thankful for the barrier at the Zoo! I don’t think I’d like to have one as a “neighbor”!
Hell to the no is right! Holy crap- I think the scariest animal encounter is when we were snorkeling and saw several huge sharks… Bob started humming from his snorkel the Jaws theme song (which was our sign we decided for each other) and we both started back paddling. Pretty terrifying!
That would be awful and is always a fear when we snorkel. Thanks for affirming it
Love it “HELL TO THE NO”!!! There y’all go again with bear stories…lol jk. Ummm y’all better be careful… I don’t wanna read a post about someone missing anything. Don’t feed the bears…lol. Hope yall enjoy the stay~
I would love to take the same roads one day! It is just beautiful!
Well, you went to the wilderness of Alaska. What did you expect to find… kittens?
If you mean lynx and puma… yep, we expected to see those as well
Last time I was really scared was when I drove through a town in the northern U.S. that had a giant billboard that read, “This town believes in the 10 Commandments”. Now that was scary…
Hmm, sounds like you two unknowingly stumbled into my hometown. Except y’all are in Alaska and I grew up in the woods of southern Oregon, but I swear I went to high school with those guys. As you can imagine, my entire childhood was terrifying.
Um, if you went to high school with those guys, I am sure you are still in therapy. I would be. And probably will be based on our 15 minutes with them.
Having a grizzly behind your outhouse would be freaky!
I was freaked like this one time when I was in a small rickety boat in a Hippo infested river. We saw a herd of hippos chilling in the water and our boat driver got a little too close. Suddenly the male hippo started chasing us and marking his territory.
I could only think about how hippos overturning boats in Africa is a leading animal cause of death.
Luckily we narrowly escaped by driving our little boat in zig zags to confuse the bull hippo. I scared out of my mind!
And hippos are dangerous. That’s a heart-stopper!
yeah what did you expect to find – kittens? haha
So who is actually going to go use the outhouse in the middle of the night? I know I would NOT be doing that.
I will give you a little hint of what’s to come… We NEVER went in the outhouse.
I dunno. I think the gun freak poachers might be a little bit scarier than the bear. Can’t wait to hear how this turned out (and if you ventured out for a midnight potty break or not!)
We went camping in the jungle in Ecuador with a guide and slept in hammocks overnight. I was the only woman, so finding a private place to go to the bathroom was an adventure even in the daylight. That night, I held it as long as I could and then ventured out in the early morning hours in pitch black darkness, just in time to hear a very.large.animal taking a bathroom break near us. I hope/prayed/pleaded that it was Warren or the guide, quickly finished my business and sprinted in the dark back to my hammock.
The next morning I told them about it and both said “are you crazy? We didn’t get up in the middle of the night – do you know what kind of stuff is wandering around here?!” I think I’m going to start wearing adult diapers on my camping trips so I just don’t have to worry about it anymore.
Yes! We were actually more scared of those guys with guns. We heard shots all through our time there. And we kept thinking “Those dudes have multiple guns… this is the scariest thing ever.”
“Hell to the no.”
Ha! My thoughts exactly!
(That said, the beauty of the area sure looks worth it.)
By the way. Scary is when you wake up your first night sleeping in the jungles of Costa Rica to what sounds like the growls of a pack of ENORMOUS and hungry beasts only a few feet from where you’re sleeping. I’ve never heard anything so primal and so loud. It was coming from all around us. I lay awake with my eyes opened wide to the dark until the sounds faded. In the morning I realized what the terrible hungry beasts were that almost ate me the night before…
A family of howler monkeys in the tree right by my bed. And they were absolutely adorable. How those tiny things make so much sound I will never know!
Oh, yes – the howler monkeys are terrifyingly loud. And terrifying, too, because they like to pee on you. Not that we would know that from the long hike we took with them high above us in the trees. (insert awkward laugh)
Don’t leave us hanging like that! You guys should start carrying around bear spray. Bears seem to like you.
Ah… You gotta love those macho types. “Good meat?” Crikey!
Ooh, I can’t wait to find out! It is such a bummer running into people that kill for sport. I don’t understand it myself. A photo is way better than a trophy any day. Now as far as when I was scared out of my mind. It was a bear incident in Algonquin Park, one came into our camp and we yelled and hit our paddles on the trees to scar it away. It eventually left, but I didn’t sleep a wink all night long!
We wanted to take a picture of those guys, but we were convinced they were doing something illegal so thought we’d end up dead if we did.
Bears in camp are never a fun thing. No way would I have been able to sleep either.
it is strange when you think about sport hunting. I have recently been researching for an article I am working on about conservation and hunting in Africa. Its such a strange business. For example one of the animals you can go hunt is an Elephant! Its so strange!
I really liked the photos in this article (also did you guys go hiking in just trainers?)