I am trying to imagine a situation in which I would be able to cut off my own arm to save my life. I'm not sure I could do it.
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I hike in southern Colorado every year with friends who live out there. One night on my last hiking trip, I woke up with my friend's hand clamped over my mouth, and then he whispered the word "bear" into my ear...we are practiced campers and had hung our food in the trees so the bear didn't actually come all the way into our little clearing...but it was a tense few moments as we listened to him shuffle back down toward the creek.
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Several years ago, some friends and I had hiked up to 13,000 feet and were standing on a flat, treeless pass when we could see a massive storm bearing down on us...Storm-loving freak that I am, I was exhilarated by the fact that all we could do was hunch down under our ponchos and feel the earth shake as lightning struck all around us. It was my first summer of health after cancer treatments and I remember thinking how much nicer it would be to die on top of a beautiful mountain than in a hospital bed...
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