Kevin writes "Lets jump to my first possible encounter. Age 16 roughly 1999, my buddy gets his first vehicle ( a Chevy S10 ). That summer we decided we're going to take our first trip to the boundary waters. Another buddy decided he was going to join us as well. Here we are three 16yr old boys, our gear, and a canoe packed into this tiny truck. We entered the BWCA through the Larch Creek access point on the Gunflint Trail. We spent the next couple days portaging deeper into the wilderness. I don't remember exactly which night of the trip this happened, but it was towards the middle. It was late or early how've good like to think of it and I had to pee. There was a bright moon out, bright enough that I didn't need to bring a flashlight. I didn't stray far from the tent. I found a random rock to pee on and let it fly. This is when I found out my target rock was not a rock at all. It let out a disgusted grunt or breath in not sure which. It went from what I can only imagine was a belly crawl to upright in a blink of and eye and took off running. In the moment I thought I had just peed on a bear cub and that momma was going to be really pissed off. I ran for the tent and got back in. Originally I was closest to the opening of the tent. I got in my sleeping bag and bounced into the middle of my two buddies. Not my proudest moment I'll admit. Well this of course woke them up and after some heated words and a plee on my end, they realized I must have seen something as I was visibly shaken and my eyes were watering from the adrenaline dumping into me and an irrational fear. That night something did come into our camp but without further known incident and nothing further to report. Thinking back on this experience with a clear head, a few things stand out to me. Why did the bear cub come up off the ground and run off like a human or was it the moon light playing tricks? Why the disgust in its tone of exhale an animal wouldn't have that emotion? And why did I panic like I did? I've seen full grown black bear in the wild up close and personal while hunting both in the dark and in the light. I've seen a sow and her cubs and had to talk her down at close range from making a decision that was either going to harm her or myself. There was a irrational fear that came over me. Encounter #2 ( made into a knower not just a believer ) Roughly the summer of 2004 maybe 2005. Like I started in the beginning of my email, I'm an avid outdoorsman. During the summers I live to spend my nights in my boat on the river. Whether alone or with a buddy. This particular night my buddy and I were fishing this barge bay. We run the river full speed at night so I have large HID lights mounted on the front of my boat light truck headlights. We were anchored maybe 15'-20' off shore. One side of the bay was barging equipment, the other old growth Cottonwoods to which the bow of my boat was facing. These old growth trees are huge! So here we are, middle of the night, sitting in my boat in the pitch black. We start hearing movement coming from in the Cottonwoods. I should mention the river banks mainly consist of river silt which dampens sound. The sounds of bipedal walking are getting closer and louder. Again, panic is starting to set in. And again, I do not panic, I'm very calm under pressure. But here I am panicking. Again, it's that irrational fear, eyes watering, chest feels like it's slow motion beating out of my chest. Everything seems to slow down yet speed up at the same time. My buddy is clearly experiencing the same emotions. I flip my headlights on and standing directly in front of us is this gigantic man. You could see the shock in his eyes and on his face when the lights suddenly are turned on and he's caught directly in the beam. He did his best to hide behind a Cottonwood, but he was too large to truly hide behind it. Again, these trees are anywhere between 4'-6' around at the base. Even with having my sidearm on me it never entered my mind tha