I'm back...with bear stories!

I know...I know. I'm a wretched human being who is unable to keep others updated about her life and probably doesn't deserve to have a blog. But in my defense...I've been working (and playing) hard. But who wants to write a blog entry when you're living in Skagway and someone says that there's an impromptu game of four square outside of the church? Or there's volleyball and basketball happening in the rec center? Or there's miles of amazing hiking just outside of town? My point exactly. All that to say, I've been keeping myself pretty occupied. I've wanted to share stories but I never seem to find the time. So, I'm going to recount now, for your reading pleasure, one of my more recent stories. Let's call it...Lauren and the Terrifying, Exhausting, Disastrous, Bear-filled Day at Dyea.

So...yesterday was my first day being stationed out at Dyea by myself. Dyea is a ghost town that once rivalled Skagway during the Gold Rush but is now a bear infested patch of woods with ruins of old buildings scattered throughout. It is my job to spend all day out here and lead two walking tours through the townsite and rove throughout the rest of the townsite in the meantime. Well, I've been pretty nervous about the bears. But everyone had been reassuring me that although there was bear skat all throughout the townsite, nobody had seen a bear in a good two weeks time. I guess I'm lucky. I had only been in the townsite for approximately 20 minutes. I was taking pictures of some wildflowers. I made contact with my first visitor who decided to go on my walking tour. In the time that it took for him to go back to his motorcycle and come back, I met a bear. I was reading one of the interpretive signs in a clearing with a small patch of woods behind me that lay between the road and the clearing. I felt safe as the slough was in front of me and I figured the woods behind me were too scarce to hide any bears. Well, I heard a tremendous crash directly behind and instantly knew it was a bear. I whirled around, fumbling for the bear spray on my belt and managed to whip it out just in time to see a bear crashing through the woods towards me, about twenty to thirty feet away. The bear must have been startled by something on the road because I don't think it initially saw me. I must have surprised it as it directly went galumphing off in the other direction upon seeing a human in the clearing. But that didn't stop me from dying inside as I imagined in quick succession a million deaths. My hand was shaking as I walked back out to the parked cars to where the visitor was. What surprised me was how calmly I was able to talk. I really didn't want to lead the walking tour having just watched the bear run in the direction of the town, but what choice did I have? I now had 5 visitors. Well, we proceeded boldly along, my hand constantly wandering to the bear spray at my side.

We had gotten about half-way through the tour and although I was still somewhat high strung, I began to relax a little. I genuinely enjoyed conversing with my group and it was almost as though we were having a pleasant stroll through the woods. But it was not to be. While pointing out some color changing lichen, I heard the unmistakable snap of a branch by a creature that was too large to be a squirrel or a bird. I spotted a little bit of movement and then I informed my group that there was a bear a mere 40 feet away. Well, they did remarkably well and they calmly talked in loud voices to let the bear...or should I say bears, for there were two...to let the bears know that we were there. We started to back track and the bears fled from before us...right in the direction we were going to go. Well, we got out of there (one woman was upset we weren't able to stay so she could take a picture of the lichen...but color changing lichen is much less important than being in proximity to a bear if you ask me). We decided we would approach the false front (the only remaining structure in Dyea) from the opposite direction and hope that the two bears had left. We met up with a cycling group and we then proceeded in a group of 20 or so to the false front. On route, I saw the two bears again. They ran away from the false front. We then reached the road leading up to the false front and the two bears came crashing through one last time. The leader stopped in the middle of the road and gazed fully upon us before running off again with her friend in pursuit. Needless to say, I was somewhat on edge all morning. And I was unreasonably angry with Steve, our Law Enforcement ranger, for not being in Dyea when there were bears all around on my first day. He doesn't deserve my wrath, but that didn't stop me from thinking that he did at the time.

Well, turns out I couldn't have called for help if I had wanted to...because radio technicians had basically cut all radio traffic as they were working on improving the signal. Great. Bears running loose in Dyea. Me. All alone. Radio. Dead. And this was how I found out. Apparently a stump out on the tidal flats was on fire, but they had poured sand and water on it. It was still smoking and I tried to call it in to Steve...but no answer. So, I drove back to the ranger station, had to call Steve on his cell phone at which point he said he would call the fire department and come out and have a look. They finally came out, but by then it was time for me to drive back to Skagway. They were still on the flats when I left but my attitude by that time was good bye and good riddance. See you in two weeks, bear friends. I unashamedly sing and talk to myself as I rove in Dyea to keep the bears at bay. No bear, my hat. I saw 3 bears in my very first hour in Dyea. What are the odds of that? I went home, had Dorritos, Dr. Pepper, and leftover chili for dinner and read Confederates in the Attic. Thus ended my day in Dyea. Until next time!...whenever that may be...