BearEncounters

It was the summer of 1996 that William Young, an Alaskan fond of wilderness and solitude, survived an attack by a brown bear.

Almost five years ago, Ronn Hemstock went for his regular 6 a.m. walk around the airport runway in Seward with his dog, Dax. It wasn't long until his morning stroll turned terrifying.

Near the end of a 20-mile hike, former Alaska Public Media reporter and outdoor enthusiast Abbey Collins encountered two brown bears fighting one another.

The attack ended with a ruined cup of peppery coffee.

Wilderness safety and medicine instructor Deb Ajango teaches her clients about bear safety through her business, Safety Ed, and she and her husband, Blaine Smith, live, work and play in bear country. Ajango shared the story of when a bear attacked Smith while the couple were on a walk not far from their home in Eagle River.

UAA's assistant athletics director ended up hopping on his bike and leading marathon runners around the black bear sow.

In honor of summer, we want to hear your best bear stories from Alaska. And we want you to tell us what you learned. Is there anything you do differently out on the trail after your encounter?

Despite negative encounters in the news, bear experts say, most of the time, bears don't want to mess around with humans, and they say there are some things you can do to keep it that way.