We were into our third night of camping in Canada’s beautiful wild Rocky Mountains. It was my first trip this far west. My husband and I were  on, what we referred to, as our actual honeymoon.

The campsite we got that night was among tall, tall pines, and very secluded from other campers. I remember there being a breath-taking view of  a large blue mountain peak in the distance. It really was an incredible site, to a prairie girl.

We set up camp, our tent being one of square canvas ones with the wooden pole in the center. Then we covered it with a large sheet of plastic to keep out the cold mountain air. I remember being really surprised at how cold it gets up in the mountains at night. 

At that time it was considered safe to use one of those barrel-shaped catalytic heater warm the inside. Those things get hot enough to boil water on, so you have to keep them well away from bedding and tent walls. After a late supper, we doused the campfire and settled in for a good night’s sleep. Or so we thought! 

Sometime in the night, I was suddenly awakened with a heavy crushing weight on my stomach and chest area. Well, when you wake like that, with no warning it seems like it could possibly be part of a bad dream. But this was a real nightmare!. The tent had collapsed upon us and something big and alive was on top of it!

Before it could all  register in my astonished mind, I heard my husband shouting “get the hell out of here”. Yes, I can clearly recall his exact words; as well as some of the fuzzy thoughts floating through my head at the time.

1. “This is real. We are being attacked. That has to be a bear on top of us “

2. “Why is he yelling, aren’t we supposed to be playing dead? “

3. “How can he even find his voice?”

Very fortunately for us, his shouting worked, and our intruder was frightened off! Fortunate also, was that we were able to get that tent off the heater before it ignited. If that heap of canvass had caught fire we wouldn’t have been able to find the exit in time to get out.

After that night, we would always sleep with a sharp knife under the pillow. Not only for possible defense, but to slash the tent wall. You can not make a hasty escape through a tent wall without a sharp pointy object.

We never got to actually see our intruder, but a short time later we could hear our distant neighbors vocally, and with much clanging of pots and pans, sending the him further on his way. So, after propping our tent back up, it was safe to try to get some more sleep.

In the morning (and its always morning by the time you get to assess these situations) we saw the damage.  There were 6 long claw tears, in the roof (about seven feet up) on the roof of our borrowed tent. When we checked out of the campground later, the ranger informed us that several other campers had been disturbed by a GRIZZLY BEAR that night. 

Now that’s as close as I ever intend to get to a real live bear.

Aspire to the kind of lifestyle  you really want