Blindsided by Jim Cole

Subtitled: Surviving a Grizzly Attack and Still Loving the Great Bear.

Jim Cole survived TWO grizzly attacks, one in Glacier NP and one, far more serious, in Yellowstone NP. This book, however, is a paean to wilderness and the need to preserve it, for the sake of these great carnivores and for ourselves. He reiterates over and over how the bear is seldom at fault when a human is attacked. He feels both of his attacks happened because he surprised the bears. (NOTE: Make noise while hiking in bear country.)

He has hiked nearly 30,000 miles in Montana, Alaska and Wyoming, mostly because he absolutely loved these wild lands. For anyone who also has an ongoing love affair with our Western landscape, this book is worth reading. The land is under constant onslaught by trophy homes, and Jim Cole PLEADS with us to do what we can to preserve as much land as possible from development. The book is written well enough, but it is a bit disconcerting as the author mentions that he was criticized for getting too close to the bears or as he perhaps tries too hard to make the grizzly not a threat. I did wonder if there were more to the stories than he chose to tell. Still, he had a huge passion for these magnificent creatures and for the absolutely lovely National Parks that are their home.

So, the other day I was drinking coffee with Dave at JPs, and he mentioned the fatal grizzly attack that happened this summer in a Yellowstone campground. The man who was killed was in a tent, and a sow grizzly with cubs rampaged through the campground, also injuring two other campers in separate tents. (BTW, the victim was from Grand Rapids, Michigan. )

Not knowing the details, I went home and read about the attack on the Internet. It was odd, by all accounts. Food storage had been proper; the grizzly did not seem injured. I googled Jim Cole, the author of Blindsided, since I was curious how he would spin this attack which seemed to be at odds with his theories. And, weird! He had just died, been found dead in his bed, supposedly dying in his sleep. There was not much about what happened to him. He was not an old man. This was strange coming as it did just after the tragedy in Yellowstone and just after his book was published. I am still wondering what happened.

While I never questioned his love for the grizzly--the Great Bear--I personally would NEVER feel any ease sleeping in a tent in grizzly country. I have done this and was glad when morning came and I was still intact. I have hiked in Glacier NP and one always knows the possibility (very, very unlikely statistically, but still not the way I would like to end a hike or my life) of a grizz attack. I have seen grizzlies in Glacier twice, and both times they were far, far away and I was thrilled, both to see them and that they were a long way off.

I would recommend this book, though, as it is a heartfelt testimonial of the philosophy of: In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World. I suspect, Jim Cole was a controversial figure, eccentric and egocentric, but to have survived two separate attacks by grizzlies and then to be able to write so movingly about these experiences is pretty amazing.