breath holding exercise with a brown bear in the yosemite rapids with tow surfer.com

Breath Hold Training in the Yosemite Rapids with a Brown Bear

Posted on June 13, 2017

Occurred on June 6, 2017, / Yosemite National Park, California, USA

“As I am filtering my morning water around 10am where I made camp the night before, I hear a couple other passing backpackers start to shout and clap. After a moment I realize what’s happening and I turned around to see two curious adolescent sized black bears approaching. After I joined the other two backpackers in making sure they don’t get any closer, the first one veers off from us and hops in the stream a short ways from where we’re standing near a bridge over that same stream. I started laughing when I initially realize it’s fighting hard against the current. Obviously my amusement turns to nervous laughter as it starts getting pulled toward me, still assuming it’s going to be strong enough to pull itself out. By the time the bear and I both realize it’s not getting out, the current has already sucked the bear down the waterfall behind me and shoots the whitewater rapids tumbling end over end until the video ends. You can see it occasionally surfacing if you look close. It took me a moment to get over my shock as I look for it without scanning for it with my phone. I shut off the video fearing the worst when the bear scampers out on the opposite side of the river as far as I can see.”

I started laughing when I initially realize it’s fighting hard against the current. Obviously, my amusement turns to nervous laughter as it starts getting pulled toward me, still assuming it’s going to be strong enough to pull itself out. By the time the bear and I both realize it’s not getting out, the current has already sucked the bear down the waterfall behind me and shoots the whitewater rapids tumbling end over end until the video ends. You can see it occasionally surfacing if you look close. It took me a moment to get over my shock as I look for it without scanning for it with my phone. I shut off the video fearing the worst when the bear scampers out on the opposite side of the river as far as I can see.”