Who has seen bear while in the woods

“I wanna hear ALL the stories! Since there is a thread about first trips, and I am enjoying that wholeheartedly, I would like to know who has seen a bear while backpacking and/or hiking. Where were you and what did you do?

I'm listening...”

“I've seen black bears in Sequoia/Kings Canyon and the Sandias (NM), and grizzlies in Denali. All of them wanted nothing to do with us and ran the opposite direction. The black bears were about 200 yards below us on a trail in Sequoia, the grizzlies were 600 yards or so.”

“I've seen two..and both were headin' th other way when I heard them....just the direction I like a bear to go when i'm out in the woods....no suprises that way. : )”

“Were you guys scared?”

“They were too far away and the view was of their behinds, so no, I wasn't.

The same day in Denali we were walking and saw fresh grizzly tracks in the mud. That was a little more unnerving. I didn't know where it was.”

“I've seen too many to write about in the Smokies (I'm too lazy).

Did surprise a young black bear one time while hiking around Gregory Bald. I was cruiseing along the trail solo and a young bear jumped up from a small depression next to me. I jumped too. When we both hit the ground, we each ran off in different directions at full speed.
I thing the bear was napping and I scared him as bad as it scared me. Ha Ha!”

“My encounter with a polar bear

Click on the picture to read the story.”

“What picture?”

“walking the section of the AT from Amicalola to Springer i was just about 5 miles in and the brush was about chest high on both sides of the trail and i was a little worried of bears in the thick brush...as i started to round a slight bend i saw IT about 35 feet up the trail with the front half of its body in the brush and half on the trail...IT was about to take its last step in when i rounded the corner...i stopped(more like froze)...she stumbled in and i waited...made some noise and all of a sudden she went barreling through the bushes...sooooooo loud in the woods...everything was fine though...and after i changed boxers and cleaned my legs off i continued on happily to springer having conquered the bear”

“I gotta change my drawers just reading these.”

“I saw another grizzly while I was driving about 65 on the Parks Highway. ;-) I can still remember to face in the brush as it turned away when we passed.”

“One was a cinnamon colored cub bout 40 yds away running up the side of a mountain....didn't ever see the mama..that was a tad bit unsettling.....th other one was bout th same distance and all i saw was a blur dash across the trail in front of me.

In yellowstone i've stood beside my car in the early morning and watched a mamma griz and cub for 45 min or so from a distance of 60 or so feet. it produced a bear shortly there after...but at 6 AM ya can see lots of wildlife B4 the real wildlife (MAN0 get up and around lol”

“Saw two blackbear on the road to the trailhead at Quartz Lake in Glacier Nat'l Park.

Had a blackbear visit our backcountry site in the Porkies. Yes, I was scared. He certainly wasn't shy, but he left after a while and I'm still alive so I guess all is good.”

“does calmwater count?”

“No, Scorch...scary people is a whole nuther thread.”

“ok, i'll report there then.”

“I came across a Momma and her cub while limping down the trail. I was by myself and walking very slow due to a leg injury from the day before. I didn't not relize the danger I was in till I saw the cub go up the tree. It was then that the whole earth began to shake around me. I knew then what had happen, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just kept walking slowly but as fast as I could. She did not charge and I did not stop. It was a exciting moment for me. It seems like there is a bear behind every tree around that place.”

“sorry, let's try that again Polar Bear Story Click on the picture to read the story”

“there we go, sorry”

“First time I ever saw a bear I was solo in the Smokies. Came around a corner and she and three babies was up about 75 yards. She stood up and looked, I stopped dead in my tracks. She dropped and took off up the trail with the kiddies close behind.

She stopped again and checked me out - I was backing up a little. Then she just headed off trail down the mountain. I waited a little bit and eased up the trail, spotted her down the mountain about 100 yards. Then I saw the babies hidden in the brush just off the trail. SHE LEFT THEM THERE!

I got outta dodge and never saw her again.

Saw another one once, but only a glimpse of his arse. It was asleep in a tree and I distubed it while settin up camp. It skedaddled. This one was in the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness in NC. They hunt in that area so those bears are more skittish than the resident Smokey bears.”

“I saw a sea snake while snorkeling in the Philippines, that scared worse than the bears. It was directly below me, only three feet or so.”

“I've seen black bears many times in various locations throughout Pennsylvania. Also in the NY Catskills and in the Adirondacks, and on the NJ side of the Delaware Water Gap. In almost every one of these situations I was alone and/or with my dog, and I never felt threatened by the bruins; rather, I considered myself privileged to have been so close to them in the wild.”

“we've maxed out simers bandwidth, but I'll tell ya, that's a really good story. That was a true wilderness experience simer. you win!”

“See my trip report on the Northville-Placid Trail thread.

Northville-Placid Trail ”

“I have!”

“waterdog.... more details!!!!!!!

My 1st and 2nd bear sightings.

#1 - Valdez, Alaska

I was a hardcore softball junkie back then, and found a team to play with within a week of coming to Alaska. During our first game, I was on deck, and noticed a large black animal behind the outfield fence. I mentioned to my teammates (mainly to make conversation, because I was the new guy), how somebody's huge dog must be loose. Jeez, did I take a ribbing. It was a freaking bear, they'd all seen it, but were so used to seeing bears, it was no big deal. They gave me the number, and called me "48" for the rest of the season...... stood for Lower 48.

I had been in Alsaka for over 2 months, and really wanted to climb one of the endless unnamed mountains and name it after my family. I'd fashioned a wooden plaque with our name using a woodburner iron, grabbed my gear and gun, and set out. I spotted the mountain that I liked, climbed it (took all day), and left the plaque near the peak. On my way down, it was raining, and visibility was poor due to the thickness of the brush. I slid on my a$$ for the most part, since there was no trail. Every now and then, I'd stop, stand up, check my bearings, and proceed.

One of these times, I was going thru the aformentioned process, and a black bear caught my eye. I was surprised to see it, not because it was there, but becuase of the steepness of the area I was in. The dran thing must have been startled by me as well, because it was kind of squatting, looking at me when I spotted it. I immediately reached for the gun, since it was about 30 yards away, and a little too close for comfort. We stared at each other for about a minute, which was total bliss, and then it came off it's crouch, pointed in my direction. That's all my nerves could take, and I fired the gun in the air. The poor ole' bear rambles away, just as frightened as I was... lol.

Overall, my best solo climbing/packing experience yet.”

“I saw a bear when I was about.. ohh... 8 or 9 years old. On the Blackwater Falls hike in shenandoah national park. I was scared, cuz the durn thing was prolly almost as big as me (I'm small, plus I may be having some issues remembering it. That was 10 years ago!)”

“In the 70's, before we knew better, dumps were common in our provincial parks. Trips to the dump to view feasting masses of black bears were common, and was the highlight of many campers holiday. I remember one idiot trying to get a better picture, sneaking closer and closer to the bears. He must have been about 10 feet away, when the bear turned around and swiped at him..the guy left his flipflops there, he moved so fast back to his car.

My family used to have a tent top trailer, and one night we had the pleasure of a bear ripping the canvas side open. We were very fortunate, the same bear went on a rampage through the park, right through tents and over people. Poor thing was shot by the rangers the next day.”

“I am loving this! I think I might survive a bear sighting!!”

“Damn, Helinka! That was a pretty close call there. Yes, it sucks that the bear was shot and killed...all because humans thought it would be nice to feed bears.”

“The best book on bears

Bear Attacks: The Causes and Avoidance. Steven Herrera

Don't read in in your tent. It'll scare the #&%!$ out of you. Read it long before you go into bear country. The first part is detail, gory by gory detail on bear attacks and the behavior that led to them. The second half is how to avoid, and what to do if attacked.”

“I have been reading that, Pathman...hence the thread.”

“In Algonquin, some of the bears are so used to people that they'll sit hidden on the side of the trail, munching raspberries and you walk right by them, almost close enough to pet them. scares the crap outta you when you catch a glimpse of a big black shape out of the corner of your eye. My scariest encounter was a moose running through the tents in Algonquin. It missed ours, but destroyed others.”

“yeah Wolfeyes, I think we are responsible for most of the problem animals, directly or indirectly. It's good that now most bad bears are relocated to less used areas, instead of shot.”

“I'm more worried about bees and such on the trails than I am bears! I know the chance of seeing a bear, let alone being attacked, is slim to none in the area I hike. I think bees are much more dangerous when you consider the ratio of bees to bears! Especially since I'm allergic to bees.”

“You guys maxed out my bandwidth? now what did you go and do that for, that's the thing with those free webservers... anyways, that link should be working again for a while, until you guys decide to max it out again, or here's a link to just the story if you'd like Bear Story”

“Wow.. seems like someone somewhere likes you. You're one lucky mofo!”

“thats scarry stuff. you and your companions are lucky. Have you seen the pics from Churchill of how people bear-proof their homes? Even spike studded doors and shutters wont keep those bears out.”

“

nuff said?”

“ww - that's a dog bro.”

“go back to your mirrored ceiling-ed tarp BB, that is definatly a bear”

“You pet the little fella!”

“"Have you seen the pics from Churchill of how people bear-proof their homes? Even spike studded doors and shutters wont keep those bears out."

I've been to churchill and seen it myself... does that count?”

“Saw a black bear,while walking in southeastern arizona mtns, due to the locale(?) the fur of the bear was a light brown and I assumed it was a grizzly, of all the darn stupid things i was wearing ankle weights, i turned and ran for home, not stopping to see if i was being followed. Returned to the spot with my comrades, and of course the bear was gone.
Also, saw many, black and grizzly bears while living two summers in Yellowsone. All of these encounters were by car. Never ran into any on the trails.”

“sorry simer, i'm too drunk to read right.”

“I took 2 newbies (Tommy for you Sierrapaloozers) hiking in Yosemite. We set up camp at Catherdral Lake. Then the Ranger came by saying, "There's a bear in the area, hang your food where you can defend it."
So instead of the spindly little tree I had picked out, we hung all our munchies from a very stout branch right there in camp (All our freeze dried dinners were in a canister). Toward dusk Tommy looks up and asks, "What do we do when a bear comes?"
I said, "It's too early."
He said, "No, now!"
Well we started throwing rocks and shouting. Drove that bear in a big circle.
By now it's dark and we can see her eyes reflecting in the flashlight beams, and she says,"Boys, if that's all you got, that foods mine."
Right back into our camp she comes, climbs up the tree and starts chowing down on our food.
We're throwing rocks and shouting to no avail. I got her with a good sized rock right square in the head making her respond with a clomp of the jaws and a loud hiss. At that point I told the other guys to quit throwing rocks, "That foods' her's."
She then came down and picked up a stuff sack and walked away into the woods.

You ask how I know she was a she. Well 3 more times she came back that night looking for leftovers, the third time she had a cub with her. And I got to watch all this from my bivy about 20 yards away.

Ps. The 3rd trip was the 1st time she even sniffed at the canister.
This is when I learned that canisters work, and that bears think of us as "a source of food not a food source".

The worse thing this whole night was when my camera broke when I tried to get a photo as she 1st came into camp. Of all the rotten luck!”

“OK, I'm anal and do count, I'm at 41 now. Last year I had 18 encounters including the closest ever, eye to eye from 3' away and then shoulder to shoulder. This was all about a food locker that I was getting stuff in and out of. At one point he was directly accross, standing on his hind legs looking right at me, drooling. He dropped back to 4 legs and came around to my side of the locker. As I was shutting it, he was getting his paw into it.

The Marble Mountains are thickly populated with bears, Of my 6 or 7 trips up there I've seen about 7 and sign of others. Last Memorial Day I saw one chasing another across the meadow directly to me, once the noticed me they stopped and wandered into the woods.

Another trip in the marbles along the N. Fk Trail, I hiked with a bear for a good 30 minutes. I first saw him as I switched backed up to a level traverse. When I saw him, I immediately froze not wanting him to run off (I wanted pictures). After a few minutes, I slowly walked up the trail and he got up and slowly walked along. For the next 1/4 - 1/2 mile we strolled along the trail with the bear 20-30' above the trail the whole time. At times he would lead and then I would catch up and lead. Then I'd stop and a couple minutes later there he was.

I spent 9 days in Alaska and saw 6 Alaskan Browns. Two on the Kenai and 4 in Denali.

The list goes on and on...”

“I've seen a few but I've never been able to get a picture yet.”

“”