The topic of bears comes up on an almost daily basis around here.  It should not be expected that you would need to consider bears to be a nuisance once you find yourself inside shelter, but that is not always the case.  I would like to share the words of my wife Tori who had the incredibly rare experience of waking up with one of the black buggers inside her living quarters a few years back.  I hope you enjoy and appreciate never having to wake up to anything similar.

We all know that bears will go wherever they can for food. I just never thought that place would be my living quarters. As I lay asleep in my bed last night, I was rudely awakened by a loud crashing that I slowly realized was coming from my kitchen. As I came to consciousness, I turned on my headlamp and poked my head around the curtain that separates my bed from the rest of the trailer. I was half expecting Michael and Scott digging for something in my cupboards, but then I realized it was 3:09 AM, which is too late even for those boys. As I glanced out into my trailer from my bed I saw a large black coated creature that was surely not a staff member. I quickly shut off my headlamp and tried not to breathe. I crawled back into my sleeping bag and pulled the mummy cover tightly over my head. As I lay facedown and barely breathing, I could tell the bear didn’t care about me. I knew that the bear could not be distracted from its feast of granola bars, unopened salad dressing and dried fruit, so I sat there and waited for it to leave. I was in a slight state of panic every time it moved about my kitchen, but it finished its meal and left within about half an hour. When I heard the bear step out my door, I waited for a couple minutes just to make sure it still wasn’t lurking in the depths of the trailer. When the coast was clear I pulled on the closest fleece and a pair of shorts and ran to Michael’s trailer which is just next door. I told him what had just happened. I had one ear on the door and one on Michael’s baffled responses. I could still hear the bear creeping around in the woods surrounding our trailers, so I went outside and started making some noise. After about 5 minutes of banging my fists on the trailer, clapping my hands, and yelling, Scott and his visiting friend were wondering what the heck was happening. I think the bear got bored of me putting on a show, and finally stumbled away with a bloated belly. Needless to say I spent the night elsewhere. After another night of adventure with my co-workers, I now have a new story to tell.