Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Jun 22/01) - The roads in the Deh Cho can be awfully lonely at times, especially when you break down.
Sometimes there's no other traffic for hours. Don Payne, Dennis Lafferty and their five relatives were more fortunate than that. While en route to Fort Simpson from Hay River, Payne's van experienced mechanical trouble on June 5. Somewhere between the Trout River bridge and the Jean Marie River turn-off, at around 7 p.m., his vehicle refused to go any farther.
Lafferty's immediate concern was for his newborn daughter, Shatia, who was along for the ride. Luckily, David Sanguez of Jean Marie River was not too far behind Payne. Because Sanguez had several passengers of his own, he stopped to let the stranded motorists know that he'd return with help.
Sure enough, about an hour later, Sanguez had mobilized his fellow community members. He returned with Isadore and Lucy Simon as well as Fred Norwegian, each offering rides to Checkpoint.
"As soon as they found out we were stuck on the highway the whole village was out there," Payne said incredulously.
Everyone accepted a lift to Checkpoint except Payne, who stayed with the van's load of groceries. Knowing that Sanguez would return once again with a tow rope, Payne reclined in a rear seat and took a nap. He awoke to the sound of a grunting black bear.
"I looked out the window and all I saw was face and claws," he said, adding that the large animal was standing on its hind legs, rocking the van.
Payne immediately sprung from the back seat into the front.
"As soon as I hit the horn it was gone. Unbelievable," said Payne, who pointed to marks in the dust on the passenger side of the van that he said were left by the bear's claws.
Although the encounter with the bear was hair-raising, it was the generosity of the nearby residents that Payne and Lafferty couldn't put out of their minds. They also mentioned Lynn McKay, who kept Checkpoint's restaurant and motel open later than the usual business hours to accommodate them.
"We broke down and ended up getting help from a lot of very nice people," said Payne. "It was great. We would have been screwed completely if it wasn't for the people on the highway."
