Which do you think is scarier: speaking to an auditorium full of high school students or running into a bear in the woods? My friend Ellen has done both. 

She was in Virginia last week, backpacking the Appalachian Trail with her two hiking mates, Sandi and Rachel, when they came across a bear. The women clicked their trekking poles together and spoke to the bear in normal voices. It turned and walked away.

Later that day, a bobcat passed in front of Ellen on the trail.