This past week, we had our first hard frost and our first magnificent auroras. In fact, on Monday morning, when I walked out into the dark to go to the office, I was gobsmacked to see the brilliant greens and blues in the sky overhead: 
One of the many things to love about the Great Land. More on that in a bit here, but first, a cautionary tale. In fact, it’s one you’ll find hard to bear: When in the Great Land, beware of the bears, because now they’re opening truck doors.
While out on a test run on Alaska’s North Slope, diesel mechanic Kadon Mroczkowski noticed several parked trucks unoccupied with their doors wide open.
“‘What’s going on?’” he replied when asked what he was thinking. “There’s nothing in front. There’s no, like, cars. There’s nobody outside of the car. So, I’m kind of like, ‘Okay.’”
While that initially caught his attention, it was the next thing he spotted that triggered a double-take.
A group of brown bears was seen going truck to truck, opening the doors on each in search of food.
Mroczkowski captured the moment on video, creating a viral moment for Alaska viewers.
What gave the moment a humorous edge was the method the bears were using in their search for something good — casually opening each truck door without putting hardly a scratch on each one.
“I’ve never seen them get inside of a truck at all, ever, let alone close the door after he was done, too,” Mroczkowski said. “He was kind of least polite about it.
“He opened it, peeped in, was like, ‘Alright,’ closed it, dipped out. There was no food for him.”
Now that’s a new one. Bears, especially browns and grizzlies (two variations of the same species), are more likely to just rip the doors off. But opening them? That’s a whole new level of scary. When parking your truck, make sure there is no food left inside, and keep your eyes peeled for bears.
Alaska Man score: 4 of 5 moose nuggets. It’s an entertaining story, and all’s well that ends well, but it could just as easily ended badly for humans and bears alike.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday: Leftovers and Fat Bears
Speaking of bears – we have a winner in Fattest Bear Week! Congratulations, “Chunk.” The people have spoken! The burliest bruin carrying the thickest and chubbiest tummy of all is none other than bear 32 — affectionately known as “Chunk.” I have it on good authority that the family of my good buddy and colleague Bob Hoge saw this coming and cast a vote for Chunk, as did my wife and I. He was the obvious choice.
In the final round of the annual Fat Bear Week contest on Tuesday, Chunk earned himself 96,350 votes, beating bear 856, who finished with 63,725 votes, according to Katmai National Park officials.
“They have no idea that they’re pitted against each other right now in this virtual thing that we call Fat Bear Week,” said Sarah Bruce, Katmai National Park Visual Information Specialist. “But they’re both highly successful, highly skilled bears.
“They look very well set up to survive the winter.”
Chunk is an adult male grizzly estimated to be about 1,200 pounds.
This summer, he broke his jaw due to what park officials say may have been a fight with another bear.
After that, Chunk had to relearn how to catch salmon, and has adapted pretty well, changing up his fishing strategy.
Chunk is not only the fattest bear, then, but also a great survivor. Good on you, Chunk! Life isn't as easy as one might think for an apex predator, and an injury like this can easily be fatal. Fortunately, Chunk seems to be not only surviving, but thriving.
Alaska Man score: 5 fat bears.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday - Moose Buggies and Fat Bears
Now, let’s look at a lovely Alaska morning.
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