LOL Mike.

Azizi, running away from a bear is sometimes instinctive, not necessarily voluntary. And being about "20 feet away" from the bear, brucie was probably outside the 'zone' of what the bear considered threatening. And besides, bear personalities differ markedly.

Bear's nose is keen but their eyesight is poor. If the wind is not blowing in the right direction, the bear may not even know it was a human being he saw. Standing upright is not necessarily threatening, it may be simply to get a better view.

I once had an uncomfortable meeting with a bear on a public but lightly traveled, unpaved road. The bear came over a roadside barrier and we found ourselves maybe 8 feet apart. I averted my eyes (to indicate subservience) and held still. She - I think it was a female - stared at me, and when I finally took a small step backward, so did she. So I held still again. Finally, with her eyes fixed on me, she ambled to the side of the road and sat down, watching me.

I would have had to pass her in order to go on my way and that was something I didn't want to do. So I thought to myself: If she doesn't know I'm a human being, if I TALK she will know and maybe she'll go away.

So I did. The only thing is that I could not - literally - think of anything to say, so I said, la la la la la la. Sure enough she got up unhurriedly and disappeared into the woods.

I used to camp in Oregon and Washington in bear country. By preference I slept under the stars- and NEVER had a problem. Somehow I feel different about it in the mountains around Juneau. I suspect the problem is in ME, not in THEM.