Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Why am I the last to find out about this stuff? As most of the rest of the world knows, there’s this internet site, hulu.com, where you can go and watch TV shows…for free! I really need something while I’m riding that trainer and the ‘Lost’ reruns don’t always cut it. I tried out hulu and discovered that I could be watching PBS nature shows, instead. I quickly searched through its menu and pulled up a show featuring the bears and wolves of Yellowstone Park, hit play and climbed aboard.
I suppose like a lot of backcountry campers and hikers, I have a fascination for the large carnivores with whom I may be sharing living and sleeping space. Though it seldom happens, folks like me could be their next meal and it pays to know and understand them, to the degree that we can, before entering their habitat…and we need to understand that it is THEIR habitat and we’re just visitors.
I know every evening as I’m drifting off to sleep that my sight will be visited by bears. They’re snooping for food that campers who ignore the bear canister requirement have placed or secured in some way that they will manage to get. I’ve had black bears in my campsite on three occasions when I was awake and it is a little unsettling. One scared easily and headed off as soon as I awoke, but in another incident, he couldn’t have cared less about me and took his time nosing around for food. I keep everything in a bear canister, which discourages a persistent bear and he did eventually leave. On another occasion though, we were sharing a lean-to with a couple that thought their food was safe tied off in a tree. They were wrong. The bear simply bit through the rope securing their food and when their bags fell to the ground, their trip was over and another bear was habituated to campsites and getting food the easy way.
It actually adds to the experience to share the woods with these animals and have no protection from them. I don’t know that I’d like the Adirondacks nearly as much if not for the black bears. They belong there and without them…well…it would just be a huge Metropark and where’s the excitement in that? I’ve had the pleasure of hearing coyotes howling and yelping as sat around a fire under clear, star-filled skies, which also has the ability to raise the hairs on the back of the neck and know that there have been sightings of mountain lions in the Adirondacks, it’s only a matter of time before their population increases to the point where we’ll have to take them into consideration when hiking and climbing. But wolves and grizzlies? – not yet, though hopefully some day.
I managed another hour on the bike and loved that I could do it all in my office and not have to dislodge or disturb anyone. When I get off that bike soaked to the bone, I just want to head for the shower and not have to fool with moving the equipment. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before my office starts to smell like a locker room, but until then…it’s perfect.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
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