bears

“my wife is worried about bears at linville gorge. anyone have any comments?”

“The closest thing to a bear I saw at Linville Gorge was Spam.

He's more like a Baritone, though.”

“nah, no big deal.

if she's really worried about bears, go to the library and get her some books on black bear behvavior - you take care of your camp and food and you'll probably not even get to see one.

In the GSMNP you will but they get fed there. Elsewhere in western NC they get hunted - thus they associate people with getting shot at.”

“That's what I've been trying to tell her.”

“If you come across a bear, just change the a to an e and drink it.”

“Statistically, she's more likely to die driving to the Gorge.”

“Nuttin' but good news.......so far.”

“Other than the GSMNP the only end of a bear I have seen is its butt as it hightails it away from me.
Since they are hunted everywhere except in the national parks they is askeered of you.

Got close to one in Otter Creek on Shavers Mtn. Had its nose stuck in a log or something in some bushes and when it heard me it let out a big huff. Took off up the mountain, later on top it was just outside camp and it ran away as soon as it saw me...it was a cute little thing.”

“Well that should make my wife feel better. thanks”

“That reminds me Sticks, I gotta get back to Otter Creek Wilderness.”

“like Sticks - i had similar experiences with bears in NC. Inside the Park, one looked at me and acted disinterested. Outside the Park, in Joyce Kilmer I startled one after I woke up from a nap - he was up a tree not far from my tent, he shimmied down the tree and ran like hell away from me.

LOL”

“MarkO shared with me recently in an email that when he was a teenager a bear chased him down and ate him.”

“That explains his #&%!$ty attitude!”

“There's far more people every day at Linville Gorge than bears and the bears have learned where the people tend to be and they try to stay elsewhere.

My guess, you could walk there all day every day for a year and not see a bear, snakes during the warm months are another matter.
last edited: 7/15/06 9:03:02 PM”

“I ordered a bear canister from Campmor a week ago. I hope it's in - you can't overnight in the Adironck High Peeks without one and I have a serious case of cabin fever.”

“When's the next trip Unca Gremlin?”

“If you come across a bear

that might just piss the bear off more ;)”

“The best bear canister out there is the berikade by wildideas. It's light, and bomber, as a mater of fact it's built out of the same stuff the stealth bombers are made of. Not cheap though, but think what you pay for a tent or bag.”

“Or your brain. Hard to replace one of those once the bear eats it.”

“First hand knowledge or is that just what you heard?”

“The Bearikade is definitely the lightest canister on the market, but it is also the most expensive. I ended up getting a BearVault. I couldn’t justify, nor afford to buy a canister that cost more than my sleeping bag, tarp, and backpack combined.”

“http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/16/bear.attack.reut/index.html#cnnSTCText?iref=werecommend

Seems the US is not the only dangerous place when it comes to bears. Avoid Russia... or at least an Island in Russia.”