South Pasadena High School
Alumni Association - 1907-2024
*Tiger Talk Forums
| Forum: Stories About Life Experiences-NOT school related | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
James Tomlin
Class Of '61
 Posts: 37 View Profile |
The Bear Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 08:36 AM
The Bear
Redwood National Park in northern California is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Set aside in the early 1920’s by the forethought of the people of California and the generosity of the Save-the-Redwoods League,
 Prairie Creek State Park is a sanctuary of old growth coast redwood, offering 75 miles of hiking trails,
   bicycle trails, a self-guided nature trail, other accessible trails for individuals with physical or visual limitations, backpacking, hiking, wildlife viewing, beach combing, picnicking, a visitor center with exhibits and a nature store. It is my favorite place in all of the world.Although I can’t really claim to be a mountain biker, or cyclist, I do own a mountain bike and ride it a couple times a week. My rule of thumb on hills is that anything that is not perfectly flat is a hill of some kind. I am not passionate about mountain biking, when a hill is too steep I simply hop off the bike and walk, feeling no embarrassment at failing to make it all the way up. Downhills can be just as problematic, since momentum, bumps, tree roots and other obstacles can often make a descent precarious.
I purchased the bike because the slim-tired one I had been riding seemed to frequently find the narrow creases in the pavement, sometimes unseating me, and so I sought the safety of the wider tires of the mountain bike. I do ride off road occasionally, and Redwood National Park is a great place to ride.
At Prairie Creek I have a favorite ride which first takes me four miles through the old growth forest, then seven miles along the beach on a gravel road. This is followed by four miles along a narrow trail that takes you in and out of the forest, always within earshot of the ocean’s steady roar. You subsequently must put the bike on your back where the trail takes you through a swamp and after that hike/bike/carry three miles straight up to a ridge. At this point the rest of the way is pretty much downhill, one mile to the highway and six miles to the Prairie Creek campground.
I have done this ride several times over the last seven years. Until I get to the highway, I rarely see other people. I have seen many birds, squirrels, deer, elk and even one porcupine in their native surroundings. My family worries about me doing these long rides alone, but it’s true that the solitude of the ride is what makes the experience so compelling.
Shortly after I began this particular ride, after a long descent, I geared down to climb up a hill, and after cresting the top, hit a bump with sufficient speed to enable me to “get air” as my son would say. I was now a couple of miles into the ancient forest. Gaining speed, I looked downhill, and to my great surprise, saw a bear about thirty yards away in the middle of the trail. My mind made some lightning calculations and calibrated the bear as “enormous.” I quickly stopped the bike and was in the process of turning around when suddenly the bear started running toward me. I quickly redoubled my efforts to get up the hill, floundering badly as I tried to gear down.
 I risked a quick peek behind me at the bear, which now looked even bigger. By the time I crested the hill and started down the other side, it had closed to about fifteen uncomfortable yards. [Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.]The steep grade temporarily allowed me to widen my lead, because apparently bears don’t run well downhill. I actually remembered reading that in a book by my friend Dr. Frank Craighead. But at the bottom of this sharp decline was the start of another steep uphill grade. Halfway up the vertical climb I looked to my left to see the bear loping easily beside me. At this point, my legs gave out and I was forced to dismount. Keeping the bike between me and the bear, which had mysteriously shrunk to the size of a St. Bernard, I continued up the hill accompanied by my obviously curious companion.
I made it to the summit with the bear still walking beside me and looked to see a long down slope. My problem now was that to keep the bike between me and my new friend, I had to mount from the unfamiliar right side. I perceive myself to be a good athlete, so I was surprised when I fell hard trying to perform this seemingly undemanding task, landing heavily and striking the ground with my fortunately helmeted head. The bear came around to my side of the bike, looking at me inquisitively, but didn’t seem to pose a threat.
As the bear continued to regard me curiously, I quickly rose, moved to the familiar left side of the bike and mounted up. The bear followed, but it seemed to have lost interest in the chase, and I peddled away, gaining speed steadily on the downhill. Maybe it was just lonely.
Administrator's note: I thought Jim's story of this area was so intriguing that I plan to visit it with my family. Here is information I found on the Internet about it. I hope you enjoy it too. (I borrowed photos on this page from the Internet. We did not take them).
More videos of this amazing area ---> Redwoods |
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Steven S Kane
Class Of '66
San Diego, CA Joined: 04/02/09 Posts: 14 View Profile |
RE: The Bear Posted Wednesday, February 10, 2010 02:56 PM My Uncle Jack, who was a sort of modern mountain man, had a short comment about bears: "Don't mess with em!"
Steve Kane, '66 |
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
