here is a bear encounter story i posted last summer after having my first encounter with a black bear:
First Bear Encounter
it is really something else, and it is the kind of something else i hope to only experience once in a life time. unlike the article posted above, i wasn't scared or fearful until after the encounter was over and i was a safe distance away, instinct took over. what i remember most is the bear's indifference, which is a nice reminder about how indifferent nature in general is to us humans. i am sure if it felt threatened it would have been a different encounter. i just backed away slowly not looking at the bear. animals can take eye contact as threatening or challenging from what i understand.