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in the Alaskan wilderness? Whereis his owner? Then reality hit mein a terrifying instant. This was nodog. It was a grizzly bear! And itwas charging us at full speed andwe were directly in its path. I wasfamiliar with black bears, but didnot know much about grizzlies exceptthat they like to bluff charge.They do this for several reasons butmostly it is to show that they arethe boss and you are a weenie trespassingon their land. At least thatis how I felt.I was carrying bear spray as I wastold I should, but when a 400 poundangry grizzly is running 40 milesper hour straight for you I reactedand did what any dog lover woulddo. I talked to him like a big puppy.In my best puppy dog voice I said,“it’s ok bear, it’s ok, calm down,hoochie, coochie coo.” I don’tquite remember exactly, but somethingto that effect. And strangelyenough it worked. He stopped deadin his tracks about 50 feet from us,and just stared at us, with a slightgrowl, but maybe amusement as towhy these guys were talking puppytalk to this manly beast. Just asquickly as he had sprinted towardus he turned and sprinted up thehill disappearing in seconds.Our hearts were pounding trying tofigure out what just happened. Weslowly began walking up the hill,with bear spray in hand followingthe tracks up the hill. The tracksdisappeared into some trees and wewere a little worried that he wouldpop out at any moment. He did not,and we eventually made it back tosafety. Soon, the trip was no longerabout the bus, but about our neardeath grizzly attack.We had three months to talk aboutit, and that we did. We told anyonewho would listen about our story,and got many stories in return. Thelocals said we were lucky. Theyhad heard of stories of grizzlies notstopping when bluffing, but continuingon by plowing over theirvictim then attacking. As we bikedthrough Canada many park rangerssaid they had never heard of agrizzly charging, or at least nevermet anyone who had been charged.We were even able to exchangeroom and board for bear stories.We were asked by one such couplein Monterrey, California and werepampered with ocean views from ahot tub, and steak dinners with theunderstanding that they could bringall the neighbors and their kids tohear our amazing bear story. Weagreed to the terms.We continued on to Mexico tellingthe story of the oso (bear in Spanish).And even to this day wheneverwe talk about our trip of a lifetimeno one wants to hear of our greatfeats of accomplishment. Theywant to hear how the bear whisperingBargo brothers escaped deathand lived to tell about it on the bestside trip ever taken.Do you want a free pair ofChaco Flips? If so, we wantto hear from you!Do you have an amazing storyabout something that happened toyou while participating in your favoriteadventure sport? If so, pleasesubmit it to us at editor@adventureworldmagazine.com.If your “It Happened To Me” storyis selected to appear in AWM, wewill send you a free pair of ChacoFlips.Adventure World Magazine June 2008 48