Confession

I'm going to make my paralyzing fear public in the hope that I will have less of it once I do.

Confession: I'm terrified of getting eaten by a grizzly bear when we're backpacking in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

I've read a ton of bear preparedness stuff hoping that arming myself with knowledge would help. It hasn't. Especially when one of them said something like, "In the unlikely event that you are attacked defensively, lie on your stomach with your hands behind your neck and your legs spread so that you can't be flipped over. As hard as it might be, don't fight back. If, however, the bear starts to eat you, then the attack is no longer defensive and you should fight with all you've got."

I've also read up on the statistics of bear attacks and when they happen, and I realize that we have a much better chance getting creamed while driving than we ever do as noisy, responsible hikers.

And, I also know that if I absolutely am too uncomfortable to do a back-country hike in grizzly territory, we won't.

None of that really seems to help. I still think about it all the time and it's the number one concern on the trip. Things like hot showers and the price of gas are not really even glimmers in my mind, even though they seem to be everyone else's top concerns. It's the stupid bears.

I'll give this confession a day or two to work its magic, and then I'm sure I'll be cured...