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Lauren, a 17-year-old senior at Central High School, wanted to scream. She couldn't. Neither could her father, who was hoarse from a virus.
"He whispered, ‘I love you,'" she said, her voice quivering, weeks later.
Lauren Utterback and her father, David, enjoy fishing, canoeing and traveling together. They had gone on
fly-in trips to Canadian outpost cabins for each of the past four summers.
Good fishing. Good times, Lots of fun... right?
Not this time. Lauren and her father were terrorized by a huge, black bear. Fortunately, they returned to La Crosse unscathed to talk about the frightening ordeal that would send shivers up anyone's spine.
"This was our first paddling experience. We paddled the waters of the 2.3 million-acre Wabakimi Wilderness Area three hours north of Thunder Bay, Ontario, for nine days," David said.
Wabakimi is about the size of Ontario's Quetico Park and Minnesota's Boundary Waters combined. David said there is no way into the area other than paddling, float plane, or the unreliable train system that be-bops through a few times each week, which is how he and his oldest daughter made their way into the wilderness.
Lauren and David, who also has two younger daughters, spent months preparing for this trip. Lauren and David felt comfortable with the plans they developed.
"We had hung our food pack each night between two trees, just as recommended in the canoe-camping literature, so we figured we would not be threatened by bears," David said. "I asked the outfitter long in advance of the trip if I should bring bear pepper spray and I was told that our chance of encountering a
situation where this would be needed was all but nonexistent and that this item would be pretty much superfluous."
Lauren and David agreed to save the money and space in their packs and went into the "bush" without pepper spray. However, they did buy $3.99 orange emergency whistles that could be used as a bear deterrent in an extreme situation. David also packed a Swiss Army knife.
Lauren and her father challenged rapids, both up and downstream, staved off rain and several hailstorms, but couldn't imagine what would happen on the fourth night.
"This was supposed to be a fishing trip," David said.
"We were after walleyes basically, but northern, too," said Lauren, who has photos of the 23½-inch walleye she caught a few years ago.
Despite rain and 55-degree weather the first three days, Lauren and David reached a perfect fishing lake. They set up camp, ate supper, and then sat beside the campfire, talking about what tomorrow would bring.
Tomorrow came much too soon.
"We heard a large branch snap in the woods and, though suspicious immediately of the source of the sound, we both were in denial and told
ourselves it had to be a moose," David said.
The sounds became louder. Soon, Lauren and David could hear something close, real close.
"Our food pack was hung between two trees well away from the camp, but our canoe was turned upside down just a few feet from the tent with a gear pack, tackle box, a couple of coffee mugs and paddles underneath," David said.
"We were both in denial," Lauren said.
"We were hoping it was a raccoon, although I've never seen one up there," David said.
By now, it was obvious Lauren and her father were in trouble. A bear was just outside their tent, pawing its away along their canoe that was turned upside down.
"All of a sudden, we heard the canoe flip upside down as he cleared the way to get
to our gear," said David, who has since documented the encounter.
Father and daughter grabbed their whistles and blew, and blew, and blew, realizing the screeching sound was doing little, if anything, to chase off the burly bruin.
David said he and his daughter spent the next 20 to 30 minutes strategizing what to do next.
"After about 30 minutes of silence, we left the tent to see if the bear was gone and to inspect the damage," David said.
Lauren and her father quickly checked their ransacked gear, and then decided to cast sail for a tiny island on the lake. There, they slept in the bottom of the canoe until about 5:30 a.m. the next morning.
When they returned to their campsite, they found the tent untouched. Most of their gear was OK, although the bear ripped open one gear pack and ran away with their tackle box with more than $500 worth of fishing tackle.
Without lures, Lauren and David were in deep trouble. They had no way to catch fish for food.
"We had no choice but to find the tackle box," David said.
They didn't find the tackle box, but found the bear when they returned to their campsite. The bear disappeared into the brush.
"We decided we had to find the tackle box, so we built a fire and lit flaming torches for defense to go into the woods and find the box," David said. "After another 20 minutes of searching, we found it torn up about 150 yards or so out in the middle of the woods."
Fortunately, David and his daughter were able to duct-tape the tackle box back together. Now, the big question. How much time before the bear returns?
They returned to their campsite. Lauren grabbed one pack. David hoisted the canoe over his head and they started making their escape down a portage trail that led to another lake about 10 minutes away.
I was two-thirds of the way down the trail with the canoe over my head when I heard Lauren shout ‘bear left, bear left,'" David said. "I didn't know whether to brace myself for a charge or attempt to run, so I tossed the canoe to see where he was."
The bear was less than 50 feet from the trail. It was "stalking" them as bears often do when they walk parallel to their quarry.
"He reared up. He was about 6 feet tall and a good 200 to 250 pounds," said Lauren, reliving the moment as if it occurred seconds earlier.
"We stopped. We yelled and he took off," David said.
Lauren and David hurriedly made their way up the trail, dropped the canoe and one gear pack by the lake, then trotted back for the other gear pack, plus the food pack that was still hanging high up in a tree.
David recovered the food pack. Lauren grabbed the last gear pack and they scurried down the trail to the canoe.
"I was never so happy to feel the water under my boat when we shoved off and made tracks," said David, his eyes swelling with tears.
Ironically, the Canadian outfitter told David it was the single worst bear encounter any of his customers had experienced in over three years.
"This whole thing made us stronger," Lauren said. "We definitely gave each other high-fives once we got out into the water."
David and his three daughters plan to leave for Canada again on Friday. Only this time, it will be a fly-in trip to an outpost complete with cabins and motorboats.
As for pepper spray, David said he's unsure whether it will be among his family's gear because he has never had a bear encounter at a fly-in camp.
"I'm not afraid of bears in general," David said. "But, yeah, I might take some pepper spray along."
Bob Lamb can be reached at (608) 791-8228, or at blamb@lacrossetribune.com
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