Thanks Joyce! It's always a fun trip!
I would love to take Roger. The worst part about going is leaving him, I have been dreading it!

Rifles loaded!

I know, I am the same leaving my two.
It is a catch 22, you end up having such a good time
on vacation, but you miss them terribly.
I bet he will be in great hands, Enjoy!

I'm usually trail running, so packing a rifle wouldn't be an option. Also, many bears charge at you so fast and unexpectedly, it sounds like you barely have time to 'lock and load' the bear spray, much less a rifle. If I were backcountry camping in bear country, or working as a patrol ranger, I'd pack a rifle and bear spray. In fact, rifle training is required at some of the remote Alaskan jobs I've looked into, due to the amount of bear activity. Then again, there was that crazy 'bear man' outside of Anchorage who used to hang out with grizzlies all the time and never got killed.
I have an expired can of bear spray that I carry sometimes which I will practice with on a relatively non-windy day. One my college friends from Whitehorse, Yukon said her dad made her practice with bear spray when she was a kid. She remembered painfully a bit of back spray.
More bear stories... I had a friend who was camping with her wolf-hybrid dogs outside Denali National Park. (She rescued wolf hybrids through the city's animal control- so she wasn't an illegal breeder or anything). She said the dogs came running into camp trailed by a huge grizzly. She jumped on a picnic table with her bear spray and watched the dogs tease the bear, sure they were going to get killed, and the bear would finish up with her. But, the dogs managed to drive the bear out of camp, and were no worse for wear.
That is scary stuff, and the Denali bears aren't nearly as large as the fat salmon fed bears in other parts of Alaska.
Maybe we'll have to settle for Maine instead!

I know that people hunt bears with .45 pistols.
I don't know about grizzly but they do it regularly with black bear.
I would take a .45 semi auto pistol with two 15 round clips with hollow points.
Gun is in the holster ready with a round chambered, you draw it and empty the clip into the bear, then reload.
Then take the bear home and serve him up.
Bear is tasty........

You would need to research the legality of said set up depending on what state you were in.........

Kiersten are you talking about Timothy Treadwell?

He and his girlfriend were mauled a few years back. They were sleeping in their tent and I guess were attacked, it wasn't a pretty site. There was barely anything left of his body. He truly put way too much trust in a predatory bear, like a grizzly. While he was an interesting guy, and he lived his life how he wanted, IMHO that he was very foolish and it cost him his life.

On the bright side, whether or not you ever use the bear spray in the backcountry, you'll have purchased it, and thus have it available for dogs on walks back home.

No, not Timothy Treadwell, though he did survive being very stupid for an incredibly long time, that documentary is astounding. This was another guy at his house in 'the valley' outside Anchorage. http://www.adn.com/2008/01/18/286397/bear-ly-believable-brits-say.html
He was charged by the state with 'feeding game'. I think Fish and Wildife experts were amazed he survived doing what he did with the bears.
I'll have to do some more research on this whole thing. There's a list of updated bear sightings around Anchorage on the Anchorage Daily News site as well, it's an interesting read. Also, a mountain biker was attached by a brown bear earlier this spring, in Anchorage, on a trail in a 'city park'- that borders miles of wilderness.
Wildlife encounters are one of the risks of living near or traveling in wilderness areas. I think the key is figuring out the best way to minimize the risk, and then just enjoy the wild.

Is this the guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v+UTJlr6xVxKc

Lori, that link didn't work for me, but I wonder if this one is it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSOKW6V6Bi8

Kiersten,

Wow, very interesting read! I had never heard of this new guy before now. It truly is not only amazing but shocking this guy is still alive. It does beg the question though for how long.

Everybody has a right to live their lives how they want, but I wonder how this guy keeps his adrenaline in check?
I do think that animals have different temperments and maybe he has gotten lucky with not coming across one of the ones who are prone to extreme agitation.

As an example, I saw a program about this man in the Tundra of Alaska. He said that he had trained his dogs to be able to handle polar bears. I saw this footage of some sled dogs keeping about a 40 foot distance and they barked at this polar bear, and the polar bear laid there, and never came after the dogs at all.

I just believe that this polar bear had a more mellow temperment and that is why it did not chase after the dogs. Maybe the bear knew that the dogs could outrun him too. ?? Hard to say, but you get my point.
I do find these stories so interesting, I could read and watch this kind of thing all day long.
Thanks for sharing, I am going to have to find this movie about Charlie , I forget his last name.
Here it is:Charlie Vandergaw's Susitna Valley bear farm.