Patio Girlz

Remember my comment about getting away from civilization? And remember that caution sign at the portage indicating that we are entering black bear territory???

It was a cool night, actually it was barely above 0 degrees Celsius, and despite wearing fleece from head to toe, my summer sleeping bag was just not going to cut it at these temperatures. I pulled my hoodie over my toque and burrowed further into my bag. This is good, I thought, very cozy and then the quiet, black night was interrupted by a very loud, seemingly close, sharp BANG. From within the sleeping bag mound beside me a loud and somewhat muffled ” What the ***** was that?” My mind went straight to… BEARS! I realize sound travels great distances at night, over water, but that was close! It was definitely some sort of bear noisemaker deterrent and most likely the terrified bear was running through the woods toward our campsite at that very moment! What to do. I strained to hear if something was crashing though the forest but couldn’t hear over the thumping sound in my ears. I started planning our escape in my mind: get to the canoe, where are the paddles?, forget putting on my boots, no time; grab a flashlight. Wait, what was that? I stop and listen to a new noise. It is close, not very loud, but sounds like…snoring! As I was busy planning our great escape, my husband fell back to sleep, apparently confident the bear was long gone.

I woke in the morning still in my tent, the canoe safely on the shore.