No, this isn’t the Blue Ridge Mountain version of Pamplona, but still . . .
I can’t help it. I’m an incurable trail runner and I’ve been jogging our local paths for many years. The Roanoke area is blessed with more trails than you could cover in a lifetime, but I try.
Paths such as those of Mill Mountain Park – so close yet so wild, the Carvins Cove trails, and the Appalachian Trail and its many spurs have felt the patter of my dusty – or muddy – feet.
The eight-mile round trip to McAfee Knob and back to the trailhead has been a perennial favorite for me, and I ran it weekly for over 25 years. So yeah, a ridiculous number of times.
I love running with other kindred souls, and I do that whenever I can, but schedules being as full and varied as they are, and spontaneity being a necessary and desirable part of the game, I’m usually out there in the woods alone. The quiet and solitude are soothing, and when everything is just right it feels like I’m gliding along effortlessly. Even when it doesn’t seem so easy, the experience always helps clear my mind and sort out some of the clutter within.
Another thing I love about running in the woods is all the wildlife I get to see. Besides lots of deer, from tiny fawns to burly and rack-laden bucks, I see squirrels, turkeys, possums, skunks, raccoons, turtles, and quick glimpses of foxes and coyotes.
I’ve seen spectacular birds of more variety than I can relate including Great Grey owls, Scarlet Tanagers, as well as hawks and woodpeckers. And yes, lots of snakes including rattlers and copperheads. But my favorite animal out there, the one that always gives me pause and a chill of exhilaration, is the bear.
I see bears fairly often, especially when I get a few miles in from the trail heads of the Appalachian Trail corridor in the Carvins Cove area. Wildlife biologists report that the regional bear population is healthy in number, and some local residents may tire of the animals’ efforts in raiding county trash cans.
While such encounters may not be quite so endearing, coming across a bear in the wild, out in nowhere, while on foot, by oneself while dressed in little more than shorts, sneakers and a sweaty t-shirt is awesome. I mean, observing a wild bear through the window of a house or a vehicle is pretty cool in itself, but to stand there in its own habitat, to breathe the same woodsy air – and yeah, to be in reach of those huge sharp claws – is, well, something else entirely.
I never expect to see a bear; they always surprise me. My mind’s wandering and I’m distracted by say, a stick in my shoe as I come around a bend and there he is, smack in the middle of the trail. Of course, he’s just as surprised as I am. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get so close. The bear will invariably roll its head sniffing while turning and ski-daddling.
In its mild panic it may climb up a nearby tree for a few seconds, then think better of it and plop down and trot downhill away from me. For my part I just stop and stand there wide-eyed and watch the proceedings. I may take a few steps backward if there’s a cub or two around – and there often is – and I try to look non-threatening which, frankly, isn’t hard for me to do.
Anyway, after the bear has thrashed away from me a hundred yards or so it always stops and looks back at me. Every time. Just checking me out I guess. He’s as curious about me as I am about him, it seems.
Is it scary to see bears in the wild? Gosh no, it’s just neat. OK, maybe a little scary but in all the years I’ve been seeing the majestic jet black animals in the wild – and some of them pretty darn big by the way – I’ve never once felt threatened, incredibly large sharp claws notwithstanding. What I have always felt when in the presence of Ursa Major in the flesh is awe, delight, and gratefulness.
I think it’s fantastic to live in Roanoke, a good size city, yet still close enough to the wild to permit something as grand as being able to go running with the bears.
– Johnny Robinson
