Where were you with your NEWMAR today?

[redbaron]

My MOST favorite place!!! I have to go back! Did you see some of the new foals? I could watch horse dynamics all day long. It's awesome that ya'll make it there every year. And you saw a grizzly to boot. That's just bonus. Safe travels! And thanks for sharing!

We did see a lot of the new foals.

My wife has some great pictures on IG

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[J&JD]

Pryor Mountains Lovell, Wy. We make this stop each year. The horseshoe bend campground has 50amp and water, and is a great launch point to go site seeing for the wild mustangs.

We found most of the herd this trip, and saw several good stallion fights. The mating season is always entertaining.

Coming down the back side we met up with a grizzly.

The trails are not hard, and do not require anything more than decent clearance and 4wd, although I never used 4wd.
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Sweet!

 

[J&JD]

Outstanding pictures...the story of Monty Roberts and wild horse dynamics is fascinating! (A must read IMHO) We spent a weekend camping in the parking lot at Avila Beach...looking at the water. Not the outdoors you shared...but a nice get-away nevertheless. I get the "Bike for Sale" reaction to seeing a grizzly on a back road. I'd rather be inside a Rubicon than on a mountain bike ? Thanks to everyone who shares their adventures with us...encourages us to expand our travels!

Love Avila Beach. Looking forward to the new park opening up overlooking Port San Luis.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I get the "Bike for Sale" reaction to seeing a grizzly on a back road. I'd rather be inside a Rubicon than on a mountain bike

And, I’ve seen the results of an enraged Grizzly deciding to open up a late-50s passenger car to get at the people inside. I was working in Yellowstone at the time and accompanying a ranger on his rounds.

The people survived their experience (at least physically; I’m not so sure about mentally), but their car was severely damaged...including broken out windshield and side windows, ripped out door posts, and totally shredded interior (except in the small corner where the people had retreated into).

The ranger had to shoot and kill the enraged Grizzly (no easy task in itself) because it had seriously injured itself while dismantling the car. Then, he ticketed the people for being where they weren’t supposed to be (the garbage dump). Under the circumstances, I think they were happy to accept the ticket.

Having seen that with my own two eyes, I wouldn’t declare myself “safe” from a Grizzly just because I was in a vehicle. A PO’d Grizzly is a formidable adversary, indeed.

TJ

 

[redbaron]

Having seen that with my own two eyes, I wouldn’t declare myself “safe” from a Grizzly just because I was in a vehicle. A PO’d Grizzly is a formidable adversary, indeed.

TJ is absolutely correct. Nothing about my rubicon made me feel safe. I am uploading a 2 min YouTube video that will give more context.

My dogs where very aware of the problem and wanted to get out and protect.

Prior to the video we where driving about 5mph coming up over a hill. The jeep wasn't exactly quiet, but not loud enough to scare away the animals. I had noticed deer and elk scattering only after we came up on them, so I was already aware that we could surprise a bear. Still being aware, and actually doing so are completely different. The bear came out about 20 ft in front of me and was startled. I backed up before getting the video and photos, as I didn't want to become famous for stupid things people do with wildlife. Will update once video uploads.

 

[redbaron]

Here is the footage of the bear encounter. You will hear my dogs, 2 youngest children, my wife and I. This is definitely not studio quality footage.

 

[Scooterfan]

I love "...all you have to do is play dead...that won't be easy for the dogs..."? Man, thanks for sharing that...awesome!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Here is the footage of the bear encounter. You will hear my dogs, 2 youngest children, my wife and I. This is definitely not studio quality footage.

Well handled, @redbaron! And, some very interesting video footage as well. Went to the link with your wife’s photos, and they are stunning! Very well done.

TJ

 

[redbaron]

I love "...all you have to do is play dead...that won't be easy for the dogs..."? Man, thanks for sharing that...awesome!

Yes...good times educating the kids. We have come up on bears before while hiking, but never as close as this one was. Usually hiking with the kids, noise is not an issue .

I used to do a lot of biking in the woods around our Glacier property. I stopped after a ranger was killed by a bear when he came up too fast and scared it. 2 Rangers where together, and the one that lived saw the entire scene. He said that the speed they were going (approx 15mph) coming around a bend was just too fast for the bear to realize what was going on. The ranger that died never had a chance to see the bear, much less react to get any of the defense mechanisms he might carry.

Lesson learned - noise and speed are crucial in the woods. This was reinforced with my experience above. Would never think that a gas engine jeep would still be too quiet. Thankfully my speed was slow.

Using the horn was enough of a distraction to the bear to scare it away. Every time I tried to approach to scare it away it would stop and watch me...that was a challenge.

If this was a black bear, my behavior would have been much different. You would have never seen the video...but I would have hit reverse so darn quick and drove it like I stole it to get away. Black bear will chase you down. Brown will run away if given the opportunity.

Finally -- E-BIKES in the woods are a sure way to get eaten. Do not ride ebikes in the woods, and never alone. Stay in a group and make plenty of noise!

 

[redbaron]

Well handled, @redbaron! And, some very interesting video footage as well. Went to the link with your wife’s photos, and they are stunning! Very well done.

TJ

Thanks TJ.