of orienteering in North America! And they reckon Australia has things that will kill you:-) Think I'd rather a snake than a bear!!
Agree - real issue was going thru areas with limited visibility and lots of berries on bushes which the bears like to eat. Advice was to talk and make noises in these areas so as to not surprise a bear that was busy eating and let them know that you were in their area and give them a chance to move away. Ranger gave a nice talk before the event on how to use bear spray and advice not to make eye contact if you were very close to one and back away slowly while saying things like "Hey bear"!!