My real bear encounter at the Priest shelter

[LoneRidgeRunner]

As someone who used to hike the AT back when it wasn't as populated, and who now hikes out west on trails not very populated, the AT does not sound as appealing of a hike these days.

It isn't because of the bears...

Too many freakin people. Too many idiots sleeping with food in their tents, dumping trash and food around shelters. Too many people in shelters.
Just too many people.

Crap, when I lived in back east you could go days without seeing other hikers. The trail was an actual wilderness experience.

I fear for the future of the trail, I really do. Sooner or later, you will have to win a pass to hike it in a lottery type system. I'm in favor of putting a large mean bastard with a baseball bat at each shelter, ready to beat the piss out of some idiot dumping trash or food.
I'm section hiking next year and will flip out if I see some dumbazz dumping food at a shelter.

Seems you have some of the same opinions as me..Particularly about people sleeping with their food...One poster admits that when he has his kids with him he does not keep food in his tent because he doesn't want his kids to have to deal with a bear.. IF sleeping with your food is so "bear proof" why should he worry??

[Nean]

Did you need to change your drawers after wards? I would have..nose to nose is just too close...

It took a few minutes before I thought twice. I started to go back to sleep but soon decided to break camp an hour before sunrise. It wasn't full grown but I think I was more amazed than scared.

[trailangelbronco]

I have slept with my food in the tent before, some parts of Idaho where there are no Grizzlies, and not at campsites. Until a very bad encounter happened.

I almost always hang my food now, but do it properly. I hang my food at least 100 yards away from my tent, high up, and usually climb a bit up a tree to tie the rope so that neither the bag nor the rope tie off is easily reached from the ground. My food bag is metal mesh, so not worried about rodents.

Hanging food, not sleeping near other hikers, all part of many habits that I have developed over the years, that have served me and other hikers well.

I have never understood why people want to sleep in a shelter, elbow to elbow with people farting, snoring and talking. With mice running over your face.
Laziness, maybe?

[JAK]

Seems you have some of the same opinions as me..Particularly about people sleeping with their food...One poster admits that when he has his kids with him he does not keep food in his tent because he doesn't want his kids to have to deal with a bear.. IF sleeping with your food is so "bear proof" why should he worry??

I can answer that. When I hike alone I sleep under a tarp with my food bag wrapped tight as a pillow because I believe it is less likely to attract bears to the site, for others. When I hike with my small daughter I sleep in a tent with here and hang the food a distance away and usually have a small fire before bedding down also. This is to keep my daughter safe. Different circumstances, different priorities.

[Nean]

I have never understood why people want to sleep in a shelter, elbow to elbow with people farting, snoring and talking. With mice running over your face.
Laziness, maybe?

Or perhaps a better understanding.
I've slept in shelters several hundred times- rarely crowded- maybe 2 mice across my sleeping bag. I've tented or cowboyed at least a thousand times. I'm indifferent.

[Northern Lights]

However, when I backpack with my kids we never sleep with our food, we hang it. I rather lose the food than have my kids wake up dealing with a bear.

I don't care what a person chooses to do with his or her food, if you want to hang it, hang it and if you sleep with it fine. But your reasoning does not make sense to me. You hang when hiking with your kids because you don't want them dealing with a bear. But when on your on your ok with it? What happens if you lose that 'dealing' with a bear and then your kids don't have a daddy.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

[sheepdog]

Yes, who would leave food inside his tent?? It's a real mistake and a real sign of in-camp laziness. "Wilderness", or at least forest areas, have a way of sorting out the newb mistakes we make---hopefully 1234 will never make the same mistake again. I wonder if he snitched out the bear to the "authorities" later and told them there's a "problem bear" in the area? The predictable outcome is bear slaughter all due to the simple mistake of a peppermint patty, while instead the guy who leaves food in his tent should be dart-tranquilized and re-located.

Oh please!!!!

[sheepdog]

One last thing. It seems like whenever someone posts about a remotely negative experience on WhiteBlaze that there are plenty of people who have apparently never made a mistake ready to jump on the people who had trouble. You know what? When people go out in the woods and try to carry everything they need on their back, s--- will happen. If you bring food out in the woods enough times, then sometimes a wild animal is going to get some of it.

It's possible for us to learn from things without always needing to blame (or attack) somebody.

My list of mistakes in the woods would have you laughing so hard you'd start crying. No matter what, the worst day I have backpacking always seems to be better than the best day at work.

well said. anyone who never went to bed with some food in their tent has not hiked very much or is incredibly anal.

[skooch]

I have slept with my food in the tent before, some parts of Idaho where there are no Grizzlies, and not at campsites. Until a very bad encounter happened.

I almost always hang my food now, but do it properly. I hang my food at least 100 yards away from my tent, high up, and usually climb a bit up a tree to tie the rope so that neither the bag nor the rope tie off is easily reached from the ground. My food bag is metal mesh, so not worried about rodents.

Hanging food, not sleeping near other hikers, all part of many habits that I have developed over the years, that have served me and other hikers well.

I have never understood why people want to sleep in a shelter, elbow to elbow with people farting, snoring and talking. With mice running over your face.
Laziness, maybe?

Im with you on this.

[Tipi Walter]

As someone who used to hike the AT back when it wasn't as populated, and who now hikes out west on trails not very populated, the AT does not sound as appealing of a hike these days.

It isn't because of the bears...

Too many freakin people. Too many idiots sleeping with food in their tents, dumping trash and food around shelters. Too many people in shelters.
Just too many people.

Crap, when I lived in back east you could go days without seeing other hikers. The trail was an actual wilderness experience.

I fear for the future of the trail, I really do. Sooner or later, you will have to win a pass to hike it in a lottery type system. I'm in favor of putting a large mean bastard with a baseball bat at each shelter, ready to beat the piss out of some idiot dumping trash or food.
I'm section hiking next year and will flip out if I see some dumbazz dumping food at a shelter.

The AT is not the only game in town, and there are places adjacent to it like the Citico wilderness and places in the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests where you can go on a three week backpacking trip and see no one. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of "wilderness" land that have rough trails with no shelters, and some even get a fair distance from roads.

Oh please!!!!

We have regular news stories around here (Knoxville-Chattanooga area) where motards do very stupid things and then blame a curious or threatened bear and the Ranger/Wildlife dudes come out with guns drawn and the bears die. There was a recent story out of Gatlinburg where a dog was chasing after bear cubs and the mother was defending her cubs. The dog owner tried to kick the bear, the bear defended herself and was later killed. I put a tent-bound peppermint patty in the same category.

well said. anyone who never went to bed with some food in their tent has not hiked very much or is incredibly anal.

Most backpackers I know are very particular about not leaving any bits of food in their tents or in their packs when squaring camp away for the night, because they do not want chew holes in their expensive tents or in their fancy packs. I was taught this little facet of backpacking 101 when I was using canvas Yucca packs back in 1963.

[Ol Mole]

[QUOTE=Tipi Walter;1159666]The AT is not the only game in town, and there are places adjacent to it like the Citico wilderness and places in the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests where you can go on a three week backpacking trip and see no one. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of "wilderness" land that have rough trails with no shelters, and some even get a fair distance from roads.

Well put.

And bears are not the only nasties out in these woods. As a teenager I had a bear come into my tent to get my food. He won the fight for it quickly. I learned from that and kept the food out of the tent. Over the years I have had a mountain lion in my camp eating the left overs off the grill, wolves, coyotes and skunks come looking for food.

Of course if you prefer to stick to the white blazed highway, your probably safer than being out in the wilderness.

Happy trails.

[Don H]

I'm currently thruhiking and what I've been doing is keeping my food bag in the tent with me at night covered with my dirty clothes. If a bear wants my food he can eat my shorts first!

[1234]

Who keeps half a york peppermint patty? I had 2, I ate mine and my wife only ate half of hers, I put the remaining half in a pouch on my pack waist band. I did forget about it and took it out while in the tent and put it in the side pocket in the tent. What ME eat her half! I am a man of peace.

If a shelter has bear cables it is presumed that there must be a bear problem and most people do use them. If no cables then most folks assume bears are not an issue at that shelter.

Most food is now packaged in mylar and it is odorless. Gorp and other food in ziplocs being the exception.

[LoneRidgeRunner]

I'm currently thruhiking and what I've been doing is keeping my food bag in the tent with me at night covered with my dirty clothes. If a bear wants my food he can eat my shorts first!

He may just do that..after he destroys your tent..

[LoneRidgeRunner]

Who keeps half a york peppermint patty? I had 2, I ate mine and my wife only ate half of hers, I put the remaining half in a pouch on my pack waist band. I did forget about it and took it out while in the tent and put it in the side pocket in the tent. What ME eat her half! I am a man of peace.

If a shelter has bear cables it is presumed that there must be a bear problem and most people do use them. If no cables then most folks assume bears are not an issue at that shelter.

Most food is now packaged in mylar and it is odorless. Gorp and other food in ziplocs being the exception.

Bear cables are put where they are for a reason..to help PREVENT a bear from becoming a problem bear..NOT because there IS a problem bear..there are no "problem bears"..only "problem hikers...

[LoneRidgeRunner]

The dumping of any food that close to the shelter by the “family” really shows the the lack of education and ignorance when it comes to safe food handling procedures and a total lack of regard for the welfare of others. The bear now knows to associate food with humans if he/she isn't already a problem bear. Hikers from here forth might be at risk from this and other careless acts of human food disposal stupidity. I always hang my food and practice safe food storage and the elimination of any scents that could draw in wildlife of any kind. I rarely stay in shelters because of the lack of cleanliness of prior hikers' food particle droppings and stay well away from the shelter if possible when I camp. Even as evidenced here, food was strewn between the shelter and a campsite, drawing the visit of the bruin, putting everyone in the vicinity in jeopardy. Sounds like the family in the shelter was not really trail-worthy and knowledgeable....Or just didn't care....The old..."We won't be here tomorrow...Let someone else worry about it"...attitude.

And the peppermint patty by the OP was not helping the situation either with an over-sight that could have been disastrous for the tenting couple. A double-whammy! Ir-resistible for the bear or anyone/thing I am sure.

I was planning on doing that section next week but will now focus my hike elsewhere. I will wait to see/hear of other reports before I hit that section again in confidence. I live close by The Priest/Three Ridges Wilderness Areas and know they are home to many bears. Hunting season just outside their boundaries is a popular and productive affair. At times human carelessness allows them to be a problem. I would hope that those at the shelter are more aware now and follow a better approach to food storage.

Come on people...Be trail smart!

Well said Hobbler, but it's never gonna happen...The people who don't give a rat's a** about others will NEVER change their habits... I'm glad there are some real wilderness areas in which I can hike to avoid people...It's people who are the biggest problems..NOT the bears..

[SouthMark]

Well said Hobbler, but it's never gonna happen...The people who don't give a rat's a** about others will NEVER change their habits... I'm glad there are some real wilderness areas in which I can hike to avoid people...It's people who are the biggest problems..NOT the bears..

That's pure paranoia and irrational fear talking. Of the 62 fatal black bear attacks in North America since 1900 all but 24 were captive bears and the 24 were predatory bears. Offensive attacks are very rare and include all of the killings by black bears. These are generally unprovoked predatory attacks in remote areas where bears have the least contact with people. Bears that visit campgrounds, bird feeders, and garbage cans almost never kill people, even though these bears have by far the most contact with people. No amount of food protection would have prevented the attacks.

In Eagles Nest Township, MN, residents have fed wild black bears for over 40 years. Dozens of bears have lost their fear of people over the years. No one was attacked.

In Pennsylvania, Dr. Gary Alt spent over a decade studying a 7-square-mile community called Hemlock Farms where 7,000 people coexisted with 21 bears. That many bears in 7 square miles is a higher bear density than exists in any national park or national forest. People regularly hand-fed the bears. No one was attacked.

[LoneRidgeRunner]

[QUOTE=Ol Mole;1159693]

The AT is not the only game in town, and there are places adjacent to it like the Citico wilderness and places in the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests where you can go on a three week backpacking trip and see no one. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of "wilderness" land that have rough trails with no shelters, and some even get a fair distance from roads.

Well put.

And bears are not the only nasties out in these woods. As a teenager I had a bear come into my tent to get my food. He won the fight for it quickly. I learned from that and kept the food out of the tent. Over the years I have had a mountain lion in my camp eating the left overs off the grill, wolves, coyotes and skunks come looking for food.

Of course if you prefer to stick to the white blazed highway, your probably safer than being out in the wilderness.

Happy trails.

I agree with all you said except "Of course if you prefer to stick to the white blazed highway, your probably safer than being out in the wilderness."
It's the more used areas that have the problems....simply because more people expose the animals to easy food in the more used areas. This is the areas where the bears, skunks, coons, and whatever else lives there become accustomed to seeing a tent and associating it with easy food.. I've spent more time in the wilderness areas that aren't that populated with food scattering people than I have on the heavily used areas of the AT... I'm now having second thoughts about even hiking any more on the AT because of the mentality of many people who use it.. I think many are afraid of getting lost if they don't have a trail Stevie Wonder can follow with paint on a tree or rock every few hundred yards... And woe be unto them if they don't have a big obvious sign at every intersection...lol.. And then some one has the audacity to tell me that I'm afraid..?? I spend more time where there are NO trails whatsoever and don't have to tolerate people trying to tell me what I should and should not carry..etc... And I don't have rats crawling all over me because I'm not afraid to get in the woods.. BTW This isn't directed towards you..You seem to be sensible.. Getting off of WB now as it's making my blood pressure go up..

[nufsaid]

Bear cables are put where they are for a reason..to help PREVENT a bear from becoming a problem bear..NOT because there IS a problem bear..there are no "problem bears"..only "problem hikers...

There have been many documented cases of bears learning to get at food hung in trees. Seems that hikers/campers that hang food may actually help create problem bears. To state that there are no problem bears is ludicrous. The motto "a fed bear is a dead bear" has a lot of truth in it.

[LoneRidgeRunner]

There have been many documented cases of bears learning to get at food hung in trees. Seems that hikers/campers that hang food may actually help create problem bears. To state that there are no problem bears is ludicrous. The motto "a fed bear is a dead bear" has a lot of truth in it.

Then don't feed em... Learn how to hang food so they can't get to it.. Any animal can get to if it's in a tent... easier than hung