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Post by johntpenca on Dec 5, 2019 15:43:51 GMT -8
Bearcan't's 2005 Pacific Crest Trail Journal First Previous Next Last Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Destination: Tuolumne MeadowsToday's Miles: 20.30 Start Location: Thousand Islands LakeTrip Miles: 948.10 Editors note: you can see pictures @ www.pct2005.com. Awoke at 5 am to the unmistakeable sound of a backpack being dragged away. Looked out from my bivy to see my backpack in the jaws of an ENORMOUS brown bear!! I jumped out of the bivy and chased after the bear in my underwear, armed with 1 trekking pole, a large rock, & adrenaline. The commotion awoke Pete who yelled 'holy cow' in disbelief & joined me in the pursuit. The pack snagged on a tree limb after a 75 yard chase. The bear stopped, ripped open the pack & proceeded to eat the entire contents. Pete & I approached within 5 feet- yelling, stomping our feet, & banging our trekking poles. The bear was completely oblivious to our presence. I contemplated braining him with the softball sized rock I was carrying, but getting a good look at his 500+ pound girth Pete stopped me by saying 'You probably shouldn't throw that rock, you might make him mad, ay'. It looked like the bear especially enjoyed the 10 hot chocolate packets & honeybuns (I swear I saw him smile after each one). At one point he stuck his entire head into the pack & came out with 1lb of uncooked spaghetti, the strands sticking out of both sides of his mouth like whiskers. Finished with the last of the food, leavinq not even a single cornnut uneaten, he paused for a moment, let out a long yawn & what sounded like a healthy burp, then slowly got up & waddled off. I quickly attempted to recover the remains of my pack & dignity and was surprised to realize the pack was salvageable despite the 14 inch gash (early 90's handmade Dana Design packs are TOUGH). We quickly broke camp & headed out in stunned silence. Facing a 20 mile day with no food Pete took pity on me & provided me with rations for the long march. Hoping to remind my fellow thru-hikers of what can happen when you foolishly refuse to carry a bearcan, I have officially adopted a trailname: "Bearcan't".
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Dec 5, 2019 17:18:17 GMT -8
Sierra black bears do like the easy pickins when people get careless.
Though it’s still Great Smoky Mountains NP that routinely closes trails and campsites due to “bear activity” and some years back started allowing the carrying and use of bear spray....
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Dec 5, 2019 17:29:16 GMT -8
Here's a couple from NJ in recent years. I still can't find the one were a bear dragged a hiker from a tent near an AT shelter.
I had a close call with a bear (I believe, no eyes on) near an AT lean-to south of High Point Park in NJ. I was doing a section hike and at about 5:30am I was awakened by what sounded like a log being over turned then the heavy breathing/sniffing of something very large came closer to the tent. I curled into a ball as much as possible in the center of the tent. I guess the sound of the nylon from me moving freaked it out and it ran off. I could hear the footfalls loudly through the ground. It was big. I couldn't decide if it would be better to be out of the tent. I got out after about a 1/2 hour.
I maintain a scent free tent as much as possible and had a good hang.
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Post by swimswithtrout on Dec 5, 2019 20:24:13 GMT -8
I had been backpacking for ~20 yrs in Colorado and Wyoming with many 100 bag-nights before I even heard about hanging food. I always brought it into my tent at night......I never even had as much as a mouse bother me.
I will add I wasn't hiking in NP's, or the mega trails with all of their habituated wildlife however.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Dec 6, 2019 10:10:03 GMT -8
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rangewalker
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Post by rangewalker on Dec 10, 2019 10:24:13 GMT -8
Does anyone else here get tired-beyond-all reason with endless bears eat humans memes? "black bears are afraid of us. I keep everything in my tent and they don't bother me." Yes, black bears are nominally wary of us, but they have survived as opportunists, like many wild creatures or living things. And black bears seem to less risk adverse than other predators. The rationale one individual did not have a bear incident is like driving to the trailhead without an issue means it will not happen. Or that doing everything right is going to protect a hiker from all harm. My new pet random theory is the deluge of idiotic comics about bears has desensitized some in the hiker community to the actual threat. He camped away from the popular areas, and kept his food bag inside his tent for the entire 6 month trip! My only camp encounter with a black bear that went on while a slept in my tent was in a wilderness area more than off-trail in a dry camp. No evidence of historic use. I and a bear nearly walked into each other as the bear was grubbing and I was absentmindedly walking back to camp after filtering up another days water. It ran away. I think the same bear that night checked out my kitchen area, left my canister untouched 150' from my tent, and left a footprint within 10' of my tent on a gopher mound. I had left out in the dark at dinner a lexan cup in the cooking area. The bear had mouthed and shattered its base. Ooops. Both the bears innate opportunism and the inability of us to control the bad behavior of others that may have camped or live in an area make me use bear country rules everywhere I hike.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Dec 10, 2019 12:29:48 GMT -8
I think it was in an old version of Bear Attacks that the author made the point that being big brained like humans there is also a lot of variation of temperment in bears. Most bears are relatively predictable but there are psycho bears as well. Another of the stories in the book was about a bear who had a toothache and decided to take it out on a fisherman he happened across.
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Post by ecocentric on Dec 23, 2019 22:28:31 GMT -8
Wildfires and famine can make bears behave differently. A number of fatalities were the result of starving black bears being predatory on humans. The grizzly attacks documented in The Night of the Grizzlies occurred during widespread fires.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Jan 27, 2020 14:58:25 GMT -8
I generally keep food in my tent at night, and hang it during the day when I'm away from camp. Note: I almost always camp well away from civilization and areas where bears may be habituated, and I camp only in black bear country. I would not do this where it is illegal.
Most of my food would not be particularly of interest to a bear....I do occasionally bring tuna or chicken, but this is in a sealed foil bag.
I only had one problem with a bear....this was also well away from civilization. There were no tall trees in the area, so hanging wouldn't have been an option. The bear tripped over a tent guy and woke me up (I didn't realize it was a bear until the next morning). My water filter, which was in a carry bag next to my tent had been carried several yards away and had teeth marks in it. One hose was bitten through, but that was easy to fix.
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Post by ukpacker on Feb 2, 2020 13:20:11 GMT -8
First time I camped in a wilderness area with bears was in Northern Ontario far from any permanent human habitation, locals taught me about canoeing the wilderness and advised me on how to behave, they said that hanging food was not necessary because the bears were still wild and scared of people, they told me to just leave my food bags on the ground but well away from my tent which I did and never had anything not even a mouse touch my food there. First time I visited USA was to the Adirondacks and I hung my bags every night, never saw much sign of bears but people told me the local residents would feed them cause they liked to see them outside their secure cabins, that made me nervous. When I got to the busy high peaks area there was a commotion at night,lots of shouting, apparently someone who kept food in the tent had a bear grab it. Fed up with the bag hanging thing every night on my last visit I bought a couple of Ursacks but only hung them in campsites, wild camping I just tied them to a tree and pissed on the tree. In over two months hiking through Idaho never saw any sign that a bear had messed with the bag.Saw several bears during the day while hiking and they all ran away. I think if they encounter lots of people they lose their fear and respect . They nearly exterminated their bears in Sweden last century, European Brown Bear is closely related to Grizzlies (Ursus Arctos sp) and in Scandinavia they approch the size of Grizzlies, the population has recovered through protection to a few thousand. Good enough to preserve the species but no where near the carrying capacity of the environment.Perhaps because of this the bears are very afraid of people and keep well away ,but also I wonder if the smaller population means the surviving bears don't feel stressed out by having to compete for natural food with other bears.
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Post by johntpenca on Feb 3, 2020 19:04:52 GMT -8
Most of my food would not be particularly of interest to a bear....I do occasionally bring tuna or chicken, but this is in a sealed foil bag. What kind of food do you think bears are interested in? I respect your posts, but that is kinda weak. If it has calories, bears are interested. Containing odor (foil pouches) helps, but not much. In the end, it is up to the individual hiker to assess what they are comfortable with.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Feb 3, 2020 19:26:11 GMT -8
I respect your posts, but that is kinda weak. Sounds like your "respect" is kinda weak.
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Post by ukpacker on Feb 4, 2020 1:25:12 GMT -8
Not certain if I picked the proper category here. Camp Cooking seemed to be the best fit. I've noticed what I think might be an interesting, if not alarming, trend the past few months. It appears some people are deciding to forego the hanging of food bags. Instead opting to keep everything in their tent. Just after an AT section hike in Georgia with a college buddy of mine, back in September, I was reading a feed on a FB group (Appalachian Trail Section Hikers). It was in response to the proper hanging of bear bags, I think. This person stated something to the tune of; "black bears are afraid of us. I keep everything in my tent and they don't bother me." I discounted his comment, and noticed that no one responded. Then, later in September a person came to my coffee shop. He was fresh off a through hike, finishing in Maine on 21 September. We talked backpacking for about an hour. In that discussion, he said he did the same thing! He camped away from the popular areas, and kept his food bag inside his tent for the entire 6 month trip! I am NOT planning to try this. That's not the point of this post (I'd be sleeping with one eye open). I'm just curious if anyone else has heard of this. Perhaps these two people are isolated in their opinion? Though I find if two people are willing to share this publicly they are quite possibly not alone.
I read somewhere that black bears are involved in more attacks on people than grizzly bears because too many people just don't take them seriously and behave in frankly bizzare ways somtimes. But it is true of most animals that they behave very differently where they are not used to people being around .
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Post by johntpenca on Feb 4, 2020 8:01:46 GMT -8
Sounds like your "respect" is kinda weak. I figured that wouldn't sit well with you. I do respect your posts; that just wasn't one of them. Not all of mine are gold either.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Feb 4, 2020 8:15:43 GMT -8
I figured that wouldn't sit well with you. I do respect your posts; that just wasn't one of them. Not all of mine are gold either. I totally get that. Cheers!
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