Years ago I went on an awesome camping trip with some friends. This wasn't a pull in and park kind of trip. We took a canoe across the lake that included a portage. Any canoe trip brings the possibility of tipping, so to avoid massive problems we went to great lengths...like putting ALL our belongings in special waterproof bags, and then tying ALL these bags together, and then tying all that to the actual canoes. Needless to say, it took a while to get on the lake. And of course we had the portage, so we had to untie everything, drag it across the land to the other part of the lake, re-tie everything and continue.

Once on our own awesome island, we still couldn't relax. Tents, tarps, cooking and cleaning. Never mind at the end of the night, before bed, tie all our food in a bag and swing over a tree to hang OR put all food in canoe and anchor out in the lake to avoid bears coming for our food. BEARS?? That's right...bears. As it turns out, if you really want to get away from the city, you need to travel far enough that you end up where Bears live.

Not only did we need to put our food in the middle of the lake, but we needed to include anything with fragrance, like deodorant or fruity lip balm. Don't keep that in your tent, that'll only attract a bear, or worse yet, a cub.

Since this was a real hardcore camping trip, we just didn't have room for comforts like air mattresses, and late night while I was feeling rather like the princess and the pea, I heard some noise. My head shot up, ears alert to what the sounds could be. After listening carefully and ruling out friends-going-to-pee and anything else remotely logical, I began to panic. Utterly convinced there was a bear just inches aways, with nothing but a flimsy tent in the way, I was imagining the simple swap of a paw that would rip away the tent and half my face to get to the nom-noms he smelled inside. What was it...did I forget a candy inside my purse...my shampoo?? This was the Worse-Case-Scenario about to unfold.

I was stone still, barely breathing and frightened for my life. Very slowly and quietly, I reached over and nudged my boyfriend awake. Not wanting to make any noise, I took his hand and placed it on my heart which was pounding out of my chest from fear. He got the message, all right. We both lay there, frozen and terrified until we didn't hear any more sounds.

And that's it. That's my story of how I was almost attacked by a bear. Knowing me, and knowing the chances and from what my friends said the next day, it is very likely that what I heard was perhaps a squirrel...maybe a chipmunk. But what do they know.

This video gives me hope for next time. And makes me laugh.