View Full Version : Bear attack Roan Mountain Area???????
left turn
06-24-2010, 08:29
does any body know anything about a bear attack in Roan Mountain this year? a friend i hike with told me about it, but i can't find anything on it, so i thought i would ask here. i also did a couple of searches here and didn't find anything, so i don't know how true this is.
we are fixing to hike Roan this weekend are the bears more active than normal up there this year? we were just there the first of May and didn't see a bear or any signs of bear.:confused:
Tipi Walter
06-24-2010, 08:57
I just returned from a 16 day backpacking trip in TN and on the last day I went out to my evacuation pick-up point and checked on my food and emergency Thermarest cache and found a hungry black bear had got a hold of my two BearVaults and rolled them down a hill and left gnaw marks on everything. I followed his trail thru the brush and located the two scattered Vaults and then went back up and found my stashed Thermarest chewed up and shredded. Here are the fotogs:
Are the bears more active this year? Doubt it, I can't fault a bear for wanting to investigate his territory.
left turn
06-24-2010, 09:14
wow! i hike the Roan area A LOT and never really had any problems. i'm not worried about them but it's always good to be up to date on how they are behaving for the year and area i'm going into. i know the Roan area has a pretty good number of bears it's always nice to know if they are more active than normal. knowing is half the battle, yo joe:)
Tennessee Viking
06-24-2010, 09:45
I am not living around Roan anymore. But I have never heard or seen a bear around there. Then last report I heard of a bear altercation on Roan was back in the 80s.
I know there are bears around Watauga Lake/Pond Mountain areas.
Then again its getting into berry season on Roan right now.
Tipi: What was your cache location?
Cabin Fever
06-24-2010, 09:46
This is probably bad info. I have been in the Club that maintains that area for three years and have never once heard of even a bear encounter on Roan Mountain itself.
There has been some bear activity at Watauga Lake Shelter which is about 60 miles north of Roan Mountain.
Cabin Fever
06-24-2010, 09:46
I am not living around Roan anymore. But I have never heard or seen a bear around there. Then last report I heard of a bear altercation on Roan was back in the 80s.
I know there are bears around Watauga Lake/Pond Mountain areas.
Then again its getting into berry season on Roan right now.
Tipi: What was your cache location?
We are on the same page Benny!
left turn
06-24-2010, 10:00
thanks guys i figured this was bad info. i've hiked the Roan area a lot and never seen a Bear, seen signs but that's it. saw where one clawed up a tree, but no worries. and yes the Watauga Lake area is a hairy spot for bears, i try to haul tail when moving through there, usually try not to camp there
Tipi Walter
06-24-2010, 10:02
Tipi: What was your cache location?
It was in the Cherokee NF in Tennessee. If I give the exact location the govt Bear Police will probably come out with murder in their eyes.
Kerosene
06-24-2010, 10:16
Late last October I ran into a bear hunter on the south side of Roan but he wasn't having much luck finding any traces of bear and his dogs had run off down the mountain.
mountain squid
06-24-2010, 10:22
A few weeks ago some hikers told me they saw a bear on Roan. I believe it was around the shelter. I saw them the day after at Stan Murray and they did not make it out to be an 'attack', just that they saw a bear.
I reckon a bear could be just about anywhere on the trail.
See you on the trail,
mt squid
We just did Roan > just 'north' of 19E. No bears. Lots of chipmunks though. And, yes, the berries were starting to become toddlers.
Blue Jay
06-24-2010, 17:26
does any body know anything about a bear attack in Roan Mountain this year? a friend i hike with told me about it, but i can't find anything on it, so i thought i would ask here. i also did a couple of searches here and didn't find anything, so i don't know how true this is.
we are fixing to hike Roan this weekend are the bears more active than normal up there this year? we were just there the first of May and didn't see a bear or any signs of bear.:confused:
Most likely it happened on Monday and it was a Bare Attack.:eek:
the goat
06-24-2010, 17:33
I just returned from a 16 day backpacking trip in TN and on the last day I went out to my evacuation pick-up point and checked on my food and emergency Thermarest cache and found a hungry black bear had got a hold of my two BearVaults and rolled them down a hill and left gnaw marks on everything. I followed his trail thru the brush and located the two scattered Vaults and then went back up and found my stashed Thermarest chewed up and shredded. Here are the fotogs:
Are the bears more active this year? Doubt it, I can't fault a bear for wanting to investigate his territory.
so that's what the inside of a thermarest looks like.......always wondered.
sorry you had to be the one to show me, walter:D
Tipi Walter
06-25-2010, 13:54
so that's what the inside of a thermarest looks like.......always wondered.
sorry you had to be the one to show me, walter:D
BTW, I wonder if anyone would be interested in buying a used Prolite 4 large pad, never used and dropped only once . . . . . by a black bear. Field tested and will still hold air once patched. Fast And Light patch kit included.
RITBlake
06-25-2010, 16:06
I just returned from a 16 day backpacking trip in TN and on the last day I went out to my evacuation pick-up point and checked on my food and emergency Thermarest cache
The most interesting part of your story was that you have a Thermarest cache.
That is remarkable.
Tipi Walter
06-25-2010, 17:56
The most interesting part of your story was that you have a Thermarest cache.
That is remarkable.
Why is it remarkable?
BTW, I wonder if anyone would be interested in buying a used Prolite 4 large pad, never used and dropped only once . . . . . by a black bear. Field tested and will still hold air once patched. Fast And Light patch kit included.
Send it back for patching? Return to REI?:D
Old Grouse
06-25-2010, 19:36
This may be what you're talking about. http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-bear-bites-man-0625-20100624,0,3997583.story
An idiot from my town in CT apparently approached a bear for a better photo and got bitten on the foot. Result - the bear was euthanized and the guy was arrested. Do you think they got it right?
Shooting Star
06-25-2010, 19:38
I hiked from Carver's Gap across the balds to 19E last weekend.
We did not see tracks, scat or any sign of bears through there.
We did see some rare Gray's Lilys in full bloom and a good crop of
berries are about to ripen (next week or two?).