Barrs while backpacking!

“while bp'ing alone. I was coming down the trail and heard a crash of trees. I looked to my left and saw a big a$$ bear come sliding down thru the trees breaking branches as he went. Scared me!
I just stood still and took a moment to think what to do. It stunned me for a moment at seeing this. I've heard others tell about it, but never experienced it for myself. I just started making noise and letting him know I was around since he hadn't seen me yet. It worked, thankfully. He headed up the ridge into the forest. I've only run into a bear in the woods one other time and he was a sleepy, hibernating bear in a log we were stepping across. (til we saw HIM!)
I've seen bears out while driving several times.”

“I saw 7 barrs today including a momma with two cubs while romping around in Sequoia. Not scary....FUN!

”

“Roseanne?”

“That's an awesome story Dana!! I haven't seen a bear yet. I hope to see one soon.”

“Dana, always wondered how I would react if I would ever to see a bear. not sure if I am in the mood to sing so he can hear me... I prolly end up slamming my hiking poles together for noise. LOL

My older boy made me a necklace with a bell on it. He said I should wear it when I hike in "bear country". :)”

“It seems as though you did bear up well at a time of uncertainty.

I attach a bear bell to my pack......jingle bell.”

“How Coool!
Glad all turned out well.”

“I tried the bell thing once, it about drove me nuts.

Now, if i'm in thick cover and all alone I just clap every now and then, kick rocks and such in the trail, just try not to "stealth walk"”

“I was suprised I wasn't scared. I've been working hard on not wigging out when I run into stuff that could frighten me. I'm doing much better. I can step over a snake and keep going. It helps me alot to remind myself periodically while I'm out in the woods that I could see most anything. I just remember not to be suprised and to stay calm. The not stealth walking thing is SO true! Bears don't want anything to do with me so remembering that.... helped!
Soon as he knew I was around he was gone. I can just hear him now "Oh Lordy. Its that nasty goldilocks chick. Well, she can just take her salt shaker and scram. I'm outta here."”

“What kind of barr and warr were ya?”

“Bearmagnet! You used to pi$$ me off so bad I had you on my ignore list. You were the sole inhabitant of the Dana is Ignoring me no man's land. Then I got over it. I can't hold a grudge. I'm no good at it. C'mere and gimme a kiss, baby. ha ha ha. stop squirming. stop running!

Nashvillehiker is now Earthnsky! I love the name change. Its perfect!
I tell you what else. I looked at your page. It is now saved to favorites. I like that photo of you in your snowgear. Those eyes! I could drown in them! They are so pretty!”

“All I have to do is ask if anyone has heard this Joke. I don't even need to post if I am so sure that everyone has heard it.”

“Wow. I love to be loved! I think.....”

“One time while I was hike I came down a hill into an old dried up beaver bog. On the other side was a black bear that stood up on it hind legs and looked at my friend and myself. While I was reaching for my camera it turned around and ran up the hill on the other side of the bog. The whole event lasted all of maybe 3 seconds but seemed like 15 minutes. I never was able to get a photo of it. It had to be one of the coolest encounters I’ve ever had with a bear. Normally when I have seen them they were just a black blur moving through the woods.”

“I just thought I was seeing a really big dog the first time I saw one.”

“looked alot like a TT'er I know.
Never mind. That WAS a TT'er I know. He is a bear sometimes. Not zactly a morning person.”

“Thanks danababy, now I keep pictureing Roseanne running bare through the woods.
My eyes! My eyes!”

“from the trail to the creek. I was hot, stinky and dirty. That cold creek felt good!”

“"I tried the bell thing once, it about drove me nuts.

Now, if i'm in thick cover and all alone I just clap every now and then, kick rocks and such in the trail, just try not to "stealth walk""
Roam Around
07:39:56 AM

The bells don't bother me.....maybe I'm just kookoo enough.

Singing and clapping is good too.”

“I only saw one bear while backpacking. We were in the mountains of New Mexico and came around a turn in the trail and it was about 30 feet from us. I started making lots of noise and everyone elsd wanted to run up to it and get their picture taken with it. I wasn't scared, just cautious..”

“I carry a "Fox 40" whistle.
I have not had a reason
to try it. Friends say it
works to send the bears
hightailing it on out.”

“glad you like the new name dana. Maybe I will see a bear in Shenandoah this weekend. Bison said he saw a bobcat there a few weeks ago.”

“Two years ago, shortly after moving back to N.w. Wisconsin, I was getting acquainted with the area back roads. I was driving down a 2 rut dirt road, went around a curve and there was a mamma black bear and 3 very tiny cubs. The cubs were all at different levels on a tall red pine and the mother was below. I watched for a little while and continued on. On my return trip they were all rolling around on the road and looked like they were taking a dirt bath. This time they ran off. I've seen more bear since moving back then in the entire time I lived here as a child.”

“I also saw an albino deer a couple of weeks after the bear.”

“The first time I had a close encounter was watching a black bear come flying out of the Ladies Privy at Carbon River in Rainier NP.
My first face to face was in a berry patch below Summerland at Rainier. The bear froze, I froze. I was about 3 ft away......I told my son to start backing up-what I didn't realize is that bears like going uphill!! I kept expecting the bear to cross the trail and run downhill. No, the bear sat in the huckleberry bushes-with his ears sticking out ;-P LOL! I ended up having to walk past the bear (otherwise I was never getting home!). I could see his eyes about 2-3 ft from my face as I walked by.
SO SWEET!
I did sing the whole time as I was around the bear in a (hopefully) soothing tone. If you hike alone or quietly in huckleberry bushes, you'll start seeing them. My son at 6 has seen 5 bears close up.
Oh yeah, and no photos....my hands were shaking like crazy-and all I could think was "get by the bear!!"”

“You are too funny. Thats cool. You're line of reasoning is like mine. I like the bear, but I don't want to be his lunch. LOL”

“I was on a white water rafting trip in Oregon two sumers ago on the Rogue River. One of the guides would go for a run on the trail that parallels the river each evening before dinner. He came back one night and told us he saw a Sow with two cubs. He was running on the trail wheh he heard the sow crashing through the woods, so he stopped. She cm out on the trail about 35 yards in front of him and stopped and looked at him thehn moved into the woods on the other side of the trail. He was about to resume his run when he thought he heard something else. It was the two cubs who also crossed the trail. If he had started running right away it would have put him between the sow and cubs. YIKES!! After te cubs crossed the trail he finished his run and coame back and told us about it.

Two days later, we saw a BIG bear across the river from our camp and about 200 yards away. When he saw our group he turned around and showed us tail lights and exhaust pipe. That was close enought to satisfy my urge to see a bear in the wild.”

“I heard a bear in Shenandoah last weekend, didn't see it though. I has coming back up to the intersection of the Gap Run trail, and the Rocky Mount trail. I came across fresh bear scat right on the trail, and about twenty minutes later there was lots crashing through the underbrush. I guess he/she saw me.”

“We found that out the Summer we moved to TN. Our farm in Va. is very remote. It is in the center of an Ag/Forestal District. Lots of wildlife there. 100 acres of that farm is wooded so we had lots of bear activity. That Summer we saw a big, fat Momma bear and three cubs sit down in the hayfield like they owned the place. My in-laws had seen their big daddy out in the driveway. His paw prints were all I saw,but could tell he was massive. I taught our kids to drive the truck to come in off the school bus. The bears were living and eating in our cornfield. I didn't want my cubs eaten by the barrs. So I solved that problem. Our poor neighbor, a very nice but peculiar black gentleman, had beehives. Lots of 'em. Poppa Bear got into them and demolished 9 out of 12 bee gums. Mr. Brown called the forest rangers and had them set a bear trap to move this pilfering vandal bear. One of those barrel type traps. Mr. Bear got in far enough to get the bait, and was too darn fat to fit the rest of himself in.. so he left. Tore the trap up in the process. Never did catch him! I'd love to have seen him trying to get out. What a hoot.”

“What a story!”

“i carry a little tiny air horn with me. It will make any bear turn and git.”

“Back in May of '02 I arrived at Otter Creek Wilderness in West Virginia on a Saturday morning and hit the trail fast to catch up with my brother, son and nephew who arrived the night before.

I was haulin ass up the creek trail when I looked up and saw in the middle of the trail what looked like a black cat. I was standing 5 feet away from a little bitty black bear cub. While I was catching my breath it scampered up tree about 10 feet and started bellowing for its mom. I continued haulin ass as fast as was possible. Never saw momma bear.”

“Bars in de woods?

”

“(you don't want me to tell that same 9-year-old bear story AGAIN, do ya? LOL)”

“Only bear encounter was in Shenandoah. He got our hanging bag the last morning, about 20 feet from where we were sleeping under the stars. Interesting to see a bear when you first wake up in the morning!

He actually untied it, there was no damage to the rope. As we cleaned up his mess to pack it out we found him, still munching on our breakfast - scared him off with a bunch of noise, after he scared the hell out of us. I keep a plastic jar he chewed up with my gear at home so I get a reminder each time I am packing up.”

“Goldilocks and the Three Barrs?”