Photo courtesy of REI.com
Those words send shivers down my spine. Two days ago, we trekked to Thunderbird Falls. It is a quick and easy hike with a nice view at the end. We made it to the end and decided to stop and enjoy the view while snacking on our goodies. My friend wanted to keep an eye on her littlest who is a bit of a dare-devil and was leaning over the deck which spans over a cliff. Her middle child ventured over to her bag. The bag held a rather large can of bear spray every hike. My friend turned to look at her middle child, dropped the youngest on the deck and expressed to her middle child her concern and for him not to pull the.. pin... He sprayed her in the face - square in her eye and along down her arm. She screamed, "Bear spray - everyone vacate the area!" We were a bit trapped on the deck since the spray let off right at the opening of the trail. Stunned we stared at each other. Quickly the effects of the fury which was let loose hit us. Coughing and yelling, we all squirmed off the deck. My poor friend screaming in agony. We flushed her eye with water as long as we could, took her home and washed off. The shower did not help very much. Actually, it added to the pain. Her child who sprayed the can was also doused and screamed every time I got water anywhere near him. The sensation was actually quite painful. Even for me and I was merely misted from afar. I claim the sensation as the fire and brimstone of Hades. My friend held strong and we called the poison control number. They explained it will be okay - everything done so far is right in line.. except the spray reacts to the oils in the skin. Therefore, oil needed to be spread over the effected area and washed off a few minutes later with dish soap. That did the trick. An hour later, everyone was at ease yet still in aftershock from the event. The best part of the day: When my friend exclaimed, "Worst hike EVER..." followed up with "I feel SO sorry for those bears..!"
Photo courtesy of HowStuffWorks.com
3 comments:
Oh my gosh! That sounds terrible! I am glad that everyone is okay.
Wow!!! Those are the stories that get passed around for a long time. We heard of a bush pilot dropping a hunter off and as he took off looked down to see the guy flailing all over on the ground. The pilot landed the plane to see what was the matter. The hunter sprayed himself with bear spray thinking it was used like mosquito spry to keep the bears away. Ha ha ha. That one was funny. Your story however, is not. It's good to hear from you. Hope all is well.
UGH! One time someone sprayed bear spray in the parking lot at Carrs by the salon....and even from afar it burned my lungs. Hopefully you all recovered!
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