There were many lakes that we would fish in during my youth. One such lake was Fish Lake (probably not its real name). This lake was named appropriately, as the fishing here was incredible; it is located in the Sayward Forest. The road was very rough, and this kept most fishermen away. From where we would park, you still had a fairly long hike over a hidden trail to reach the lake. As a young man, I just loved fishing here. It was a beautiful little lake; it had two big sections with a narrow area in between. The far side of the lake had some impressive rock bluffs.
I remember one time when we were hiking in to do some fishing, I was running ahead and had reached the lake before my dad and brother. I took off along the trail that followed the shore. This path led to our favourite fishing hole. It was right at the narrows. Fish travelling from one part of the lake to another had to pass through these narrows. Partway down this trail, there was a small hill, not much higher than 3 or 4 meters. The brush at the top of the hill was pretty thick, with the trail cutting through it. I was running up the one side, going full tilt. I was unaware that there was a young black bear, which was also running up the other side, full tilt. The black bear must have heard our sounds echoing on the bluffs on the other side of the lake and was running away from it. We met at the top of this little hill, and as we slid to a stop, we were nose to nose with just our heads sticking out of the brush. We both took one long look at each other for a moment and then turned and ran in the opposite direction.
My dad and brother could only see us from the shoulders up. They could not stop laughing at this. On the other hand, I had almost soiled my shorts, and it took me a while to find the humour in the whole affair. It must have looked pretty funny, though.