LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Looking back on his night of misadventures Tim Brown has a hard time deciding what was worse, the truck crash, the thick swarms of mosquitoes or the bear.

"The mosquitoes were as bad as I'd seen them in the North," he said.

After hitting a wet patch on Highway 1 north of N'Dulee crossing Tim Brown's truck spun out of control and flipped approximately four times. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The charging bear was likely the worst part but just barely, said Brown.

It all started innocently enough. On June 19, Brown, his wife Melinda, their three children and their daughter's boyfriend, David Windle, loaded up the family's Ford F-150 SuperCrew pickup truck in Fort Simpson and headed for a weekend at Willow River.

When the family reached Willow River they realized they'd lost a bag from the truck bed somewhere along the drive. Brown and Windle, who's from Yellowknife, decided to drive the truck back to look for it but knew they could only go as far as the ferry landing because it was already after 8 p.m. and ferry service had stopped for the night.

Just before leaving Brown decided to take a kicker and a new motorcycle, out of the truck bed.

"I said you'd better take that out in case I wreck and I laughed," said Brown recalling the night.

Although he didn't know it at the time the words were prophetic.

The gravel highway had been fine on the drive in but in the interim a rainstorm had formed.

"The character of the road changed so much so fast it was incredible," he said.

Brown estimates he was going between 90 to 100 km/hr and was decelerating when the truck hit a wet section of the road. Immediately, the back end of the truck whipped around and the vehicle started to roll. It rolled at least four times and slid to a stop in the bush on the driver's side.

During each roll Brown, 42, remembers clutching the steering wheel and tucking his head across his chest so his shoulder took the impact of hitting the roof. Items that were loose in the truck swept across his line of vision.

"It's sort of like being in zero gravity," he said.

Brown, who had been wearing his seatbelt, found himself standing vertically in the cab with his feet where the driver's side window used to be. Windle had ended up in the backseat.

After escaping the truck, Brown assessed his injuries. His left collarbone was broken and was almost pushing through the skin. His left ear was also bruised and swollen. He later found out he also had a fractured shoulder blade.

Looking at the extensive damage to the truck compared to his injuries Brown was thankful.

"Does luck even cover that?" he asked.

With the ferry closed Brown realized there wouldn't be any motorists on the road to rescue them.

"I realized we have a 50 to 55-km walk ahead of us," said Brown, who decide their best bet was to walk back to Willow River.

It was 9:15 p.m. when the two started walking. Brown had fashioned a raincoat into a sling to support his left arm. He was wearing a pair of shorts, light hiking shoes and a hoody.

As soon as the truck had crashed the mosquitoes swarmed the men.

"They were bad," he said.

They were so thick Brown compares them to having fur on his legs. It was also raining.

As the time passed back at Willow River Brown said his wife worked through a number of scenarios trying to convince herself he was OK. Around midnight Brown's daughter Rebecca was sent out on a quad to look for the pair. She returned without a sighting.

Around 2 a.m. Rebecca and Tony Betsedea headed out on the quad again with a five litre gas can and a rifle.

Back on the road Windle only made it to midnight. Despite encouragement from Brown he sat down and refused to continue. Brown decided he had to keep walking.

Approximately 35 minutes later Brown realized he was being followed. The first sign was three sharp stick cracks in the bushes on his left.

"I knew right away it was a bear," he said.

He had one thought, "got to keep walking."

Brown thinks a cut on his ankle that had filled his sock and shoe with blood attracted the bear. Now calling out "hey bear, hey bear" at intervals he kept walking.

The bear followed.

For the next two-and-a-half hours the bear stayed with him. Brown could see the bushes and saplings moving to his left and every once in awhile the bear would make a snorting sound.

There were a few times when Brown thought the bear had left and would feel a sense of relief but then he'd hear it again. Near the end Brown started yelling at the bear to come out if he was going to do something so he could get it over with.

Around 3 a.m. the bear made its move. Brown felt a thudding in the ground. In his right hand he wielded a baseball sized stone with a jagged point that he'd picked up half an hour earlier.

"He was pretty quick when he came out," said Brown.

The bear thundered out and slid to a stop on his haunches about 10 to 15 feet from Brown.

The bear, which Brown estimates was two to three years old, crouched there swinging his head and pawing the air.

With the rock raised Brown took three steps towards the bear and yelled profanely at the animal.

Immediately the bear's ears popped up and he jumped, turned and ran into the bush.

With the bear gone Brown bent down and rested on his knee for a few minutes before walking again. About 15 minutes later during another rest he saw the quad arriving.

After picking up Windle the group returned to Willow River.

Based on the kilometre markers Brown knows he covered 30 km on foot during the six hour ordeal. He thought, however, he was closer to Willow River than he was.

It was only on the quad ride back he realized how much farther it was.

"I'm not sure could have done it," he said.

Later that afternoon Brown was medivaced from Wrigley to Yellowknife to be treated for his injuries.

Although it's been nearly a month the experience still gets Brown wound up and raises the hair on his arms. He realizes he's lucky to be alive.

"It could have easily gone the other way," he said.

Brown also realizes he's got a good story to tell.

"I wouldn't trade this experience in now that it's over and I'm fine," he said.

Brown said he's taken two lessons away from the night. One, the character of a road can change drastically with little or no notice. And two, never assume everything is all right if it might not be. A person's life could depend on it, said Brown.