AB Mountain

The sun has come out. I'm finally getting my Vitamin D. Since the weather was so nice, I decided to go on a hike this past Saturday. I heard there were lots of blueberries ready for picking on AB Mountain, so I grabbed a big ziplock bag, water, and a pear to snack on then started on my way. I was told that it would take at least two hours to reach the summit. Most my friends were gone for the day or working, so I decided to go alone. There can't be any danger in hiking by myself...lots of people do that.

I'm sure I don't have to remind everyone that I have a fear of bears, but I am telling you again, because the fear crossed my mind as I started this hike. I would have been fine, expect I had talked with my mom the day before and when I told her that I wanted to do this hike she has suggested I carry a knife. I chuckled and said, "mom, how is a knife going to help me if I am in front of a 10 foot grizzly bear?" Seriously, if there was a bear, I don't think I would be able to do much with a knife. I would have a better chance at out running a bear then trying to defend myself with a knife. Needless to say, I didn't bring a knife on my hike, but I thought about it when I started on the trail.

I am the type of person who lets my mind wander. So it was going in circles for the first two hours of my hike. I was definitely not thinking rationally. It was almost like an internal argument...

"Did you hear that?"
Oh, it's just a bird.

"Where is everyone else, it's a nice day, why am I the only one on the trail?" Hello, you are in Alaska, there just aren't a lot of people here.

"What if I see a bear, what am I going to do?"
You are going to quietly turn around a run back to the car. If he chases after you then you will probably scream. You could climb a tree...actually, don't bears climb trees too? On second thought, you could play dead. Maybe someone will rescue me? Silly, you aren't going to see a bear. THEY ARE MORE AFRAID OF YOU. THEY ARE MORE AFRAID OF YOU.

"This hike is taking a long time."
That's because you are out of shape. You aren't used to walking up steep terrain.

"It really is beautiful here. Look orange mushrooms, I should take pictures of that on my way back. Wow, it sounds like I'm approaching water. Don't bears drink water?"
My goodness, calm down, you are such a big baby, you aren't going to see bears.

"I'm really out of breathe. Is this getting steeper? I'm getting a good workout. I need to take a water break."
Ooh, look at that mushroom, it is red with white dots, that reminds me of the smurfs. Okay, I'm going to go up this hill until I reach that tree, then I'm going to take a breather.

"I have been hiking for two hours already, I am never going to make it to the top." This is a hard hike, but you will be proud of yourself when you make it to the top. Plus it is all downhill for the second half. Hey, you are hiking in Alaska, by yourself, you can do this.

"What was that?"
It sounds like a bird, but I think it was that squirrel...weird. This really is getting steeper.

At about this point the climb got really steep and I was slipping all over the place. The trail got really narrow, but there were less trees so I knew I was closing in on the climb. Then I found a huge cluster of blueberry bushes. I was almost at the top. Thank goodness! I was getting exhausted. At this point I was no longer hiking, but climbing the mountain! Since it has rained the previous three days it was slippery and muddy. I finally came up on someone else hiking the mountain, two older women. I would assume one of the ladies was in good health, in her 40s and the other lady must have been at least 50 and a little overweight. I have to give her credit, because she had gotten that far and wasn't giving up even though the mountain was becoming steeper. She however had two hiking sticks that I was coveting!

I took lots of breaks at this point. The sun was out, the view was amazing, and let's face it I was tired. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was by myself, but it was spectacular. I couldn't believe the view. I could see all of Skagway and into the fjord. If fact, from such a high view, I could see the different coloring of the water, which is caused by glacial sediment. The view alone made the hike worthwhile, even though my mind was running circles in the process.

On my way down I picked blueberries until my fingers were blue. Actually, they were a mix of blueberry stain and mud since I kept falling. After I passed the steep part of the descent I ran home.

It wasn't until I was visiting with friends later that night that I learned the real danger I had put myself in. Here is my disclaimer: It is probably never smart to hike by yourself. This hike turned out to be harder then I was expecting. It was steep at the end and I fell plenty of times, so I could have hurt myself and then I would have been stuck there, waiting for someone to find me. I did see others hiking when I was on my way back to the car, so I would have been fine, but I would have left myself injured in a very vulnerable location, surrounded by blueberries! Sure, you are thinking, that is good nourishment which makes it a perfect place to stop, but it is also very satisfying for bears. In fact, I learned that bears frequent that area because they love blueberry patches! Yikes. Here I was picking berries for over an hour. Plus I could have been tempting them the whole way home with my bag full of berries. I had no way to defend myself other then to put my hands up and offer the berries over, which would have been a sacrifice since I hiked over two hours to get them.

I suppose the Lord blessed me with safety (I did say a prayer before I started the hike). Since then I have heard of two people who have seen bears on that trail. I probably would have peed my pants if I saw a bear! I did learn a piece of good advice that the rest of you might want to know, in case you find that you cross a bear's path. A knife won't defend you, but this is what you should do, Bear Safety 101: Stay where you are. Start talking to the bear, very loudly, say, "Bear, I'm here. You better go away." And wave your arms in the air to make yourself look bigger. The bigger and louder you look, the better.

So next time, I'll be smarter and go with a friend, which will probably be more fun, and I will be prepared with my new warning technique. Seriously though, it was a great hike. I got a good workout. My legs were sore the next day and I got a ziplock bag full of delicious blueberries to eat with yogurt, ice cream, or just plain by themselves. What could be better then good health and good food?