Alaska Part VII

[leftyjew]

Harding Ice Field Trail

So we decided to hike up the open section of the Harding Ice Field Trail, and decided that it was too late to do the full trip anyway (This site I only just looked up says to spend 6-8 hours! We only had 2 and a half before sundown at 11:30ish.)
We start climbing and see our first wildlife - moose droppings and then a forest ranger. The ranger tells us that people have been seeing marmots who apparently whistle, and a bear with cub. Tells us to be smart and whatnot. We say goodbye to Ms. Slightly Awkward Ranger, sign in at the trail register, and head in talking, watching beautiful sights and taking photos.
It's a decent hike, but amazing views. We see vegetation we'll later learn is called a "fiddle-head fern" and our friends the horsetails. There are a few flowers, and a lot of trees. There were waterfalls of glacial runoff and snow melt. There were also a few helpful signs instructing us to fall off a cliff with rocks falling from under our feet (we opted not to heed those signs). We did heed the signs telling us to hike in alternating directions around the switchbacks. We walked through a few drainage areas which just seemed overflowing, and across some rocks that were on fast-flowing water. This was when arctic_alpine mentioned how fortunate it was that we were all wearing hiking boots (some of us were considering not switching shoes).
The whole way up, we heard people talking about a bear and her cub right on the trail. Tim was particularly excited (his trip to Denali was bear-less, and he felt that a real AK experience would include bears). Heck, I was excited, too. I wanted to see a bear. arctic_alpine who actually has bear experience was less excited. We kept talking so as not to startle the bear. But you know? The whole way up we went we did not see that sow. I was a bit annoyed. We did see some audacious marmots, though. They were right on the trail and when we approached, they just kept munching. Well, one was munching, the other was having a good time standing on his hind legs on a rock. We got a few good photos and they were very cute.
We also saw some stunning views! Especially at the apex of our climb. It was just amazing - the glaciers, mountains and trees (it was getting to be a bit past 10, and we wanted to head back to be home by dusk). Some of the ever"green" trees had these bright red branches - possibly new growth. It was really cool. The sky was so big and the light was absolutely perfect - you know, that a-bit-before-sundown 7pm type of pink-orange light. The type of light when I would normally get off the metro and stop to listen to the Dupont Circle New Orleans brass band blast their horns. Now I was just watching G-d blast whatever it was that was creating such beauty. So.... We lingered for a while.
Then we headed back down. We passed our marmot friends, and looked a bit for Tim's lens cap which had fallen off somewhere along the trail. We passed familiar signs and flowers and waterfalls and trails. We were having a good time and talking about how it was a shame that we didn't have longer. As we turned a corner, Tim (who was in the lead at the time), holds his hand up to us. "Stop! Shhh!" "What?" "There's the bear!"
Wow. Black bear. We crept forward to get a good look. She was a lot smaller than I thought. On all fours, she was only about 3'6" and maybe 3' wide. Her baby was real small - about the size and shape of a large ottoman. Anyway, they were munching on veggies and doing what they do. Very alive, very attractive, and very powerful. There's just a certain intention that these black bears were walking with that just exuded majesty. Basically (and I'd see this again in moose), they were the ones who belonged. They had control and were really really cute. I didn't feel too threatened, either, just sorta cautious. Tim didn't feel cautious. He went slowly up to Mrs. Bear and started taking photos of her and her little one. She made sure to stay between her baby and us. She kept very close to her cub actually - almost knocking him over. I guess that's what's called being "overBEARing" :)
(Lesson #3 - bears) Anyway, arctic_alpine and I decided that while Tim was taking pictures, we should walk carefully past. So, avoiding eye contact, we slowly walked past Mrs. Black Bear. All is A-OK. We're about 4 feet from her and her cub. Maybe 6. Anyway, the two of us walk together past her. All of a sudden, she looks right at me, stomps her foot and goes, "HEFF!" Now, I know you can't outrun a bear. I know that if you run, you look like prey. I know that you do not by any means run from a black bear who is generally docile and doesn't want to bother hunting you. But no matter how many people tell you to not run from a bear or how well you know it.... well, heffing is scary. I bolted. arctic_alpine yelled at me, "Stop! Don't run!" I stopped. I stopped running with my feet. My body was still in fight-or-flight and I couldn't stop shaking for at least ten minutes. Tim continued to take pictures from near the bear as we were trying to leave.
The rest of the walk down was fine. Nice views, wet waterfalls, fresh and living air. It was good. Especially after I stopped shaking. We got back to the hostel at about 11 and had really great conversations with all the folks who were hanging around the kitchen table. I also got into a long talk with Tim about minority communities inside a majority culture. We were talking about Chinese and Indonesians in the Netherlands, but I was also talking about Jews in America and about pluralism within the Jewish world (and anyone else who doesn't want their version of life to fade into a mushy brown melting pot). I went to sleep at about 2am which was perfect because four hours of sleep is all you need when you're going kayaking and driving for 5 hours the next day.
And then Tuesday was over (yes, I know. I still have 4 more days, but Friday will probably be brief, and Thursday, too).