Humility.

Outdoorsman, researcher, and author Doug Peacock was interviewed by National Geographic ...

Why did you go into the wilderness after Vietnam?

Like so many other veterans, I was so out of sorts when I came back. I couldn't be around other people. I required a great deal of solitude. For me, the best place for that solitude is out in the hills, mountains, and valleys, by myself. Some people can get that same feeling in their backyard, and I don't begrudge them a bit.

Anyway, I camped out, and by the end of the first summer I'd run into grizzly bears. They utterly riveted my attention. Which turned out to be exactly what I needed.


Why grizzlies?

Because you really can't be self-indulgent in grizzly country. You've got something bigger than you out there, something that can kill and eat you any time it chooses to, though it seldom does.

Being among grizzlies forces humility. And that's what I needed, because that's the emotional posture behind learning: humility.


When was the last time you felt that humility?

Just last week in Yellowstone. I'm in grizzly country at least a couple of times a week. I can't live without that feeling. I would utterly despair.


What's the most memorable grizzly encounter you've had?

There've been lots of them. The most memorable experiences are the ones where the bear really granted me quarter, had the grace to let me out of a situation where it really had the right to just chew my shoulder off. That's a great, incredible lesson—the lesson of muscular restraint.

Read the rest at National Geographic.