Are Bears the biggest danger to Backpackers on the A/T ??

[brotheral]

Hi ! I was talking to a few folks on FB and someone commented that he knew a few people that had done a few hundred miles on the trail.
He went on to say that, "The Biggest danger was bears. Lots of bears.." I wanted to say "I don't think so", but figured I'd check first.
What do you think ?
BrotherAL

[brotheral]

Hi!
I was talking to some folks on FB about backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. One commented that he knew a few people that had done a few hundred miles on the trail. He went on to say that, "The biggest danger was bears. Lots of bears." I wanted to say, "I don't think so !" but thought I'd check here first. So what do you think ??
BrotherAL

[Toon]

I saw 8 in 350 miles but most run off right away. They are however more aggressive In the smokies. Still had no trouble. Be smart don't cook in camp, clean up, hang food.

[Slo-go'en]

Only if you go to sleep with an open jar of peanut butter in your tent.

Seriously, your lucky if you even see a bear and if you do, it's usually it's rear end running away from you.

The biggest danger to a backpacker on the AT is usually themselves.

[kayak karl]

Biggest danger is ticks

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[takethisbread]

Biggest danger for your life is other humans. There are lots of bears, I probably saw close to 20 on the 2014 thru. Other dangers include aforementioned ticks, Norovirus, unplanned pregnancy, and perhaps hypothermia.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[earlyriser26]

You can easily look up all fatal bear attacks in the U.S. Since the 1930's I believe there have been fewer than a dozen in the states the A.T. crosses. Most fatal black bear attacks are from captive bears. Death by bear would not even rank in the top 100 causes of death on the trail.

[imscotty]

Biggest life or death dangers on the trail...?

I would guess hypothermia, lightening, falls, drowning, other people. I think bears would rank a couple hundred down on a list of the most dangerous things on the trail.

[garlic08]

Slips and falls are the greatest danger, going by number of actual rescues.

[CrumbSnatcher]

Hi ! I was talking to a few folks on FB and someone commented that he knew a few people that had done a few hundred miles on the trail.
He went on to say that, "The Biggest danger was bears. Lots of bears.." I wanted to say "I don't think so", but figured I'd check first.
What do you think ?
BrotherAL

#1 running out of mountain money(toilet paper)
#2 sharing Gorp(do not let hikers with dirty hands reach into your Gorp bag)
#3 slippery logs & rocks
#4 NOT getting to the AYCE Buffet before closing time
#5 asking advice on mileage/distance from hikers coming from the opposite direction
#642 bears

[Lone Wolf]

Hi ! I was talking to a few folks on FB and someone commented that he knew a few people that had done a few hundred miles on the trail.
He went on to say that, "The Biggest danger was bears. Lots of bears.." I wanted to say "I don't think so", but figured I'd check first.
What do you think ?
BrotherAL

biggest danger is other humans

[OCDave]

http://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Mos...-Mosquito-Week

World wide, mosquitoes nearly twice as deadly as humans. However, be on the alert for Sharknados!

[CrumbSnatcher]

thanks, i forgot Mosquitoes, and yes humans are dangerous! so plan accordingly ;-)

[Miner]

Slips and falls are the greatest danger, going by number of actual rescues.

That was my greatest fear. Some of the steep rock scrambles down from the mountain are several hundred feet high and those rocks can be very slippery when wet. I remembering talking to one guy in Maine who told me how he slipped and fell head first and fortunately his head hit a thick bed of moss rather then a rock. It still gave him a gash on his head though.

After that, your biggest risk is being hit by a car while hiking along or crossing a highway and just people in general near the trailheads and roads. I'm pretty sure lightning, mosquito and tick born illnesses also will outrank bears.

[GoldenBear]

> "The Biggest danger was bears. Lots of bears.." I wanted to say "I don't think so", but figured I'd check first.

The best place to start is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ica#Black_bear

If someone repeats this ridiculous statement, simply ask them to name five fatalities from wild bear attacks in the U.S., east of the Mississippi River, over the last 60 years.
They won't be able to do so, simply because the number of them is THREE.

Meanwhile, the CDC reports that there were 119 fatalities from West Nile Virus in the U.S. JUST IN 2013 -- five in the states which the A.T. passes through.
http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/statsMap...onsbyState.pdf

So which animal do you think is a bigger danger -- bears or mosquitoes?

Meanwhile, this pdf shows that an industry promoting firearm ownership "brags" that there were ONLY 600 unintentional deaths from firearms in 2011.
http://www.nssf.org/PDF/research/IIR...istics2013.pdf
So which mammal should you be most frightened by -- a bear or a human with a gun?

[Malto]

the top ten things to be worried about more than bears.
1) Falls.
2) Lightning
3) falling trees or branches.
4) Ticks
5) Cars. Closest I came to major injury or death. Also, I believe the highest cause of death on PCT.
6) Combination of Multiple minor issues such as minor injury combined with really crappy conditions.
7) Avalanches if you hike in winter conditions.
8) Steam crossings
9) Stepping on a snake.
10) Sickness from lack of hygiene on the trail, mainly an issue in the herd.

The more you are around bears the less you will fear them.

[MuddyWaters]

Its been said, and Im just piling on, but eastern black bears dont even make it on the danger radar of experienced AT hikers. They are overgrown raccoons.

Many new hikers ARE quite worried about them at first. Until they see the their first bear arse running away from them.

[oldwetherman]

1+ with what Slo-go'en said......A hikers biggest danger is themself.

[saltysack]

Biggest danger is banjo toting toothless rednecks....squeal boy!!!! I feel alittle safer in the woods tannin the urban jungle...don't believe me watch the news!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saltysack]

Than in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk