Bear Grylls's Home is Not in Alabama

I watched "Man v. Wild" last night for the first time. I'd seen a few minutes of the show here and there, but never had much interest in it. But last night's episode was set in Alabama, so I thought I'd check it out and see where he went.

He made a good choice by going to Little River Canyon. It's in the northeast part of the state, where the Appalachian mountains end. The canyon is impressive. I went there once during college on my first and only rappelling venture. As I recall, we rappelled down canyon walls that were about 140 feet or so. It was fun. Grylls used a tree to get down (impressive), but he only descended an 80 foot wall (wuss!).

When he got to the canyon floor, he rafted out of the canyon. I don't know where he ended up, but eventually he needed to cross a flooded plain (or perhaps a river). He explained to the viewer how dangerous this was due to the fact that Alabama has alligators in its fresh water bodies. I'm certain that's true, but I doubt anyone has had to worry about gators 350 miles inland. Maybe Bear rafted all the way down to Mobile county, although I have my doubts. But freaking out about alligators reminded me of the scene from Parent Trap where Haley Mills (and Haley Mills!) get Vikki to smack sticks together to frighten off the mountain lions.

Good one, Bear Grylls!