The best way to experience Alaskan lifestyle is to go on adventures. There are multiple seasons, activities, and ways to get into trouble. I think the best adventures are the ones where you [[take risks]] You are now a kid growing up in Alaska with an outdoor family and its summer. Time to go hunting with your dad. You can either go for [[Moose on the Rex Trail]] in Cantwell, or [[Elk in Kodiak]].You are 14 years old and are getting ready to go on a 30 mile four wheeler ride back to a river. After gearing up, you and your dad start off.The first mile you get stuck. Mud flinging everywhere from Dad bogging down in front of you, and now your covered in it. Wet, cold and muddy its time for the [[adventure to start.]]Time for a once in a lifetime hunt on Afognak island next to Kodiak. A bush plane drops you and Dad off with his hunting partner and his son. After setting up camp next to the only lake on the whole island. You head to bed. The next day at 7am you gear up and start hiking. Mountain after mountain you climb and scale around to the other side of the island. 2pm. No sign of Elk and Dad is getting tired so you stop for [[lunch.]] 8 hours later you finally make it to the river. You set up your tent with the electric bear fence and wash off piles of mud in the river. Big track rigs go by with two or three antler sets poking out the top. After a long evening hunt that yields absolutely nothing, you head back to camp. Later that night you wake up to the grinding of teeth behind your head outside the tent. You and Dad both look at each other and bolt out of bed with shotguns. Outside there is nothing. Quiet. The [[bear]] has left you for a while.On your evening walk looking for a nice bull. You pass the carcass you saw the day before. Yet this time half of it has been drug into the woods. You get low behind a fallen tree and then it hits you. The stench of wet dog and nasty breath. You hear the tearing of meat a few feet past the treeline. Time to go. Now. Then the tearing stops. Has the bear smelt you? You freeze. [[Waiting.]] After a few minutes nothing comes out. Dad motions to slowly back up. Without turning your back you make your way back up the dry river bed, and when your far enough away you turn and walk back to camp. Close call. After days of 5am glassing and evening walks you gear up and make the ride back to the truck empty handed. It sucks, but that's why its called hunting not killing.You start eating lunch and remember you had an Elk call that you picked up at Sportsman's. It's a long shot but you give it a try. After a while you see a blob come over the mountain. Binoculars up. Too big for an Elk. Way too big. Its a monster brown bear. It dissapears into the alder patch about 1/2 mile next to you. Time to go. You pack up fast and high tail it out [[over the next mountain]].You hike for another couple hours and Dad can't go much further. You dont blame him, you're tired too. Your partners want to check the next ridge so you set Dad up with the bear rifle and head with them. You pop over the ridge and see nothing but a few trees and a boulder. There might be some Elk around the bend so you head toward the boulder for cover. Then you look up and [[freeze]]The boulder starts moving. Its a bear. A big one, much bigger than before. It looks up at you and it starts moving at a good pace towards you three. Shit! You start backing up, making sure you don't move too fast and make it charge. Your partner radios Dad. "get over the ridge with the [[bear gun!]]" You see [[Dad]] lay down and scope in on the bear. You three cant go anymore without turning your back to the bear and running up the mountain so you all kneel down and switch off the gun safeties. Then the bear stops 20 yards from you. It looks around, wondering if your worth the effort of eating. Seconds go by and it seems like hours. The bear easily is a 12 footer. It contemplates for a few more seconds, and then jaunts off over the ridge to your right. That was way too close. It's 6pm and time to head back to camp. Dark is coming in a few hours and you don't want to be on the mountains then. You scale the many mountains and it takes longer than usual to get back. The last mountain comes and Dad isnt feeling too good. He stops and you stop with him. Dad has a history of passing out if he doesnt get water, and we were out. Your partners decide to go get water at camp and come back. Until then, you sit with Dad. They leave as darkness sets in and then you realize it. You are sitting on the side of a steep mountain with your rifle Dad's pistol. In the dark with big bears. Dad leans over and sais "protect my body". He's always joking around yet you know there is truth behind it. He passes out and you are left [[alone]] in the pitch black, listening for every little sound. You sit alone terrified for good half hour in complete darkness, watching over passed out Dad. When he finally wakes up it isnt good. His speech is slurred and he is disoriented. Your partners radio you and say they are on their way back. Dad thinks it's a good idea to try and hike down towards them, and there's no changing his blurred mind. You half carry Dad down the mountain and watch for headlamps of your partners. They radio again to see if you can see them. Nope, just your headlamp and Dads. Dad shouts "there's their lights!" "No Dad, that's your [[light.]] " "oh, uh.. right." After a while you see their lights coming up the mountain. You regroup and get Dad water. He feels better. You trek back to camp and break open a case to celebrate. You fly out a few days later with no Elk, just a fox that had tried to attack Dad at camp (probably had rabies) and he blasted it. -He made a hat out of the fox