gloves, headlamp, and a bear bell

Now that the cold autumn mornings have arrived, it is dark as night at 5:30 AM when we go out to train for the Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon. It's an interesting feeling; knowing there are bears lurking in the trees as you run. And then the sun comes up and along the trail you see fresh bear "shat" (rhymes with scat, and means the same thing). But with gloves, a headlamp, and a bear bell, all is well.

UPDATE: This morning (Friday 9/12/2008), I returned from a beautifully rainy early morning run, and at the bottom of the driveway was a bear with her cub. I clapped to shooo them away. The cub ran away, but the mother just stared at me. So I backed up while clapping at her. She just stared. Nothing like a "stare-down" from a black bear to wake you up in the morning.