Hammock Hanger/BMT

[Hikerhead]

In her journal today, HH said she saw 6 bears in one day on her finish-up two-day hike on the BMT. :eek:

I saw 3 deer and 1 pheasant the whole week. :mad:

[MOWGLI]

In her journal today, HH said she saw 6 bears in one day on her finish-up two-day hike on the BMT. :eek:

I saw 3 deer and 1 pheasant the whole week. :mad:


That's pretty cool! And she lived to tell the tale! Now you know why all the signs are torn down in the Cohutta Wilderness. Dang bears!

In '03 I saw more wildlife in 6 days on the BMT - than I did my first 2 months on the AT.

[Hammock Hanger]

That's pretty cool! And she lived to tell the tale! Now you know why all the signs are torn down in the Cohutta Wilderness. Dang bears!

In '03 I saw more wildlife in 6 days on the BMT - than I did my first 2 months on the AT.
Yes, I have lived to tell the tale. When I was about 3/4 of a mile down the north side of Big Frog I scared a yearling cub. Then about 5 minutes later I came across the "largest pile of bear****" I had ever seen. At that point a leaf fell from the tree above and I looked up to find 4 bears looking down at me. I had to take a picture of the family. Well, after a quick photo shot, momma began to get a little ticked off and started spitting at me. I quickly said good-bye and started moving away. I was about 12 feet from the tree when she started down.

I thought oh crap, she is going to come over here and backhand me for not giving her the respect she deserves and bothering her and the cubs. As she hit the ground I took a deep breath and got prepared to act all big and mean... luckily for me she went in the opposite direction. Immediately after each cub came down the tree and ran after her. I managed to get a picture of the last one coming down the tree.

So, 5 bear in about 5 minutes.

Then after reaching my car, showering and eating I returned to the campground and decided to drive up the mountain. About 2 3/4 of a mile up from Thunder Rock CG there was the largest bear I have ever seen in the wild. He had to be 450-500 pounds and it is still spring.

Thus, 6 bears in a day. Plus a turkey. It was a hot, humid, uncomfortable hike, but the bear sitings made it all worth it. Sue/HH:banana

[TakeABreak]

Hey Hammock Hanger, are you going to post the pictures here or somewhere, where we can see them.

[Hammock Hanger]

Hey Hammock Hanger, are you going to post the pictures here or somewhere, where we can see them.
I'll be posting the pictures here. Since I am travelling it will be awhile but I'll definately get them up.

BTW: Just spent a wonderful afternoon with Miss Janet. I'm going there tomorrow for breakfast to pick up a puppy as I head north. I'm trying to make it up to the Doyle in Duncannon for Thursday night. Then on to the Adirondacks.

[Bolivershagnasty]

Hamock are you doing the BMT now?

[Hammock Hanger]

Hamock are you doing the BMT now?
Just finished up the "original" BMT Monday. I'll be back in August to hike some of the newer trail.

[SavageLlama]

Wow HH.. that's 6 more bears than I've ever seen on the trail. Very cool. :cool: Look forward to seeing some pix.

[Happy Feet]

Hatman and I maintain the trail on Big Frog just north of where you had your first 2 sightings. We often see a mama bear and 2 cubs. This year the cubs are as big a she is. They didn't run from us as fast as they did last year! We had a really good sighting of them on a work trip this spring. A friend was up there and saw a mama and 3 cubs (maybe the same ones you saw?) a few weeks ago on the Big Frog Trail. That area is getting full of bears. A few years ago you'd be real lucky to have a sighting. Now it's quite common.

We just hiked the TN/NC extension of the BMT and only saw a HUGE box turtle and a couple snakes, but there were 5 of us so we weren't all that stealthy! Lots of birds singing and cool weather up at high elevations. It was great!

By the way, the BMT was SO NICE. We didn't see another soul in over 100 miles except for 2 maintainers - that is until we hit the Smokies!