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  1. #41
    Registered User colorado_rob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swjohnsey View Post
    Your chances of seeing a bear in the woods is about the same as getting hit by a meteorite.
    My score:
    Bear's I've seen in the woods, something like 20 (12 on the AT, one in CA, the rest in Colorado, including two encounters where my unattended pack was shredded and food taken/eaten)
    Hit by meteorites: zero, though I hold out hope for at least a close encounter !

    On topic: if you find you need to dump your pack to visit features just off the trail, your pack is too damn heavy. I rarely notice mine. Strive for this, it will make you happy.

  2. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by colorado_rob View Post
    My score:
    Bear's I've seen in the woods, something like 20 (12 on the AT, one in CA, the rest in Colorado, including two encounters where my unattended pack was shredded and food taken/eaten)
    Hit by meteorites: zero, though I hold out hope for at least a close encounter !

    On topic: if you find you need to dump your pack to visit features just off the trail, your pack is too damn heavy. I rarely notice mine. Strive for this, it will make you happy.
    I don't think I have ever dropped my pack unattended. Couldn't agree more with the bolded part.
    enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry

  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by swjohnsey View Post
    Your chances of seeing a bear in the woods is about the same as getting hit by a meteorite.
    There is only one documented case in human history of somebody getting hit by a meteorite, and she survived.

    I've seen 5-6 bears over the years, so another statistic bites the dust.

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Miner View Post
    To those that leave their packs unattended while running off to do something, I have a question. Do you hang your food at night? If so, why? Just wondering if people are being consistent in what they say they are doing.
    I do hang my food at night and as noted, will be hanging my food when I drop my pack for a side trip in the future. Seems pretty obvious now but it never occurred to me before. I guess I've just always been lucky.
    You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet

  5. #45
    Registered User swjohnsey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    There is only one documented case in human history of somebody getting hit by a meteorite, and she survived.

    I've seen 5-6 bears over the years, so another statistic bites the dust.
    Were did you see 'em? I've seem more than that but all in parks or at shelters.

  6. #46
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    Canada (Algonquin Prov Park, 1), Catskills (3-4... while hiking out one night, vicinity of Giant Ledge, Woodland Valley), Harriman State Park, NY (3), Waywayanda State Park, NJ (3-4, plus one mamma w/cubs, all while doing MTB), Shining Rock/Pisgah many years ago.......

    Food stolen only twice, once by a Pine Marten in the Daks that unzipped a pack pocket, and by, you guessed it, a chipmunk that tore a hole in my nearly-new McHale pack (Colden lake, Daks). Chipmunks have also done damage to friends' packs, and similar to my Pine Marten incident, in the north Cascades (Mt. Baker) I had a friend whose pack was unzipped by a raven that flew off with a bag of crackers. And a huge food haul for our rather large group in Canada was absolutely ravaged by flying squirrels.

    So I guess I underestimated a bit.

    BTW here's a photo I took of the actual pine marten ref'd above... brazen little bastard that came back for more.
    pine marten_2.jpg
    Last edited by cmoulder; 03-26-2017 at 23:38.

  7. #47

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    swjohnsey, you must not have bears in Texas, but believe me, if you hike the AT, you are going to see bears. I saw a bear the very first time I hiked on the AT, and it was within the first hour of the hike. I wasn't frightened, particularly, as I half expected to see one, but just surprised that I saw one so close by, and so soon after I started hiking.

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by swjohnsey View Post
    Your chances of seeing a bear in the woods is about the same as getting hit by a meteorite.
    Huh? I've had a bear bump my head through the tent wall in the middle of the night and had a couple of other instances where they have popped onto the trail either behind or in front of me. Couldn't tell how many I have seen while out hunting, hiking and motorcycle woods riding.

    Meteorites? I had the good fortune (only an amateur astronomer would say that! ) to have a small meteorite buzz past about 10 to 20 feet over my head one night! I heard it and saw it (faint yellow sparks) fly past and heard it hit the wet ground... betcha' I spent two months searching for that thing and never found it.

  9. #49

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    Seems to me basic common sense would come into play here. "If I leave my pack and wander away from it, someone or something has the opportunity to take it, if I take it with me there is no opportunity to take it".

    There are two choices, risk losing it, or don't. I prefer the latter, but apparently many people discount it.

  10. #50

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    I think the consensus is fairly clear, except for a couple that think there are no bears or anything that will touch your stuff.
    There's some risk, judge accordingly based on the circumstance.

    On a rocky peak I met a guy that was looking for his pack for 3 hours. He stashed it somewhere and had no idea where after his lunch! I got there 2.5 hours in, ate a snack while wondering what the hell he was doing. Eventually he found it just past his "search range", but that was after miles of scrambling up and down the same small area. whoops
    He was staggering from all the scrambling and panicking because his "itinerary" was way behind. Hiked with him a bit and ditched him at the nearest flat area that he could throw up his tent..

  11. #51
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    ditched him at the nearest flat area that he could throw up his tent..

    Good call.

    I also do not understand the unnecessary risk, no matter how small. In the risk/consequences scenario perhaps the risk is small but the consequences can be very dire.

  12. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smithereens View Post
    ...Meteorites? I had the good fortune (only an amateur astronomer would say that! ) to have a small meteorite buzz past about 10 to 20 feet over my head one night! I heard it and saw it (faint yellow sparks) fly past and heard it hit the wet ground... betcha' I spent two months searching for that thing and never found it.
    Holy crap! You nearly earned your trail name right there.

    I once saw the yellow sparks fairly high above me, not audible, and that was extremely impressive. I was with a teenage friend (I was in my 50s), and he exclaimed that he'd never seen anything like that in his entire life! I told him he never would again.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  13. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hikingjim View Post
    I think the consensus is fairly clear, except for a couple that think there are no bears or anything that will touch your stuff.
    There's some risk, judge accordingly based on the circumstance.

    On a rocky peak I met a guy that was looking for his pack for 3 hours. He stashed it somewhere and had no idea where after his lunch! I got there 2.5 hours in, ate a snack while wondering what the hell he was doing. Eventually he found it just past his "search range", but that was after miles of scrambling up and down the same small area. whoops
    He was staggering from all the scrambling and panicking because his "itinerary" was way behind. Hiked with him a bit and ditched him at the nearest flat area that he could throw up his tent..
    And now the rest of the story. HikingJim being the mischievious little devil he is, found the poor fellas pack and move it a 1/4 mile down the trail which was just outside the search range. Then he sat back, took a two hour lunch as he watch the search. He ended up having to ditch the hiker because the hiker was getting made because Jim won't tell him why he couldn't stop laughing.

    Now you know the rest of the story.
    enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry

  14. #54
    Registered User BuckeyeBill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malto View Post
    And now the rest of the story. HikingJim being the mischievious little devil he is, found the poor fellas pack and move it a 1/4 mile down the trail which was just outside the search range. Then he sat back, took a two hour lunch as he watch the search. He ended up having to ditch the hiker because the hiker was getting made because Jim won't tell him why he couldn't stop laughing.

    Now you know the rest of the story.
    That's humorous, but now I have coffee all over my monitor.
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  15. #55
    Leonidas
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    Quote Originally Posted by swjohnsey View Post
    Your chances of seeing a bear in the woods is about the same as getting hit by a meteorite.
    My chances must be pretty good like others here, we saw 5 bears in the first 70 miles of the AT in Georgia. Actually they were all between Poplar Stamp Gap and Blue Mountain Shelter. So 5 bears in 6 miles give or take.
    AT: 695.7 mi
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  16. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traveler View Post
    Seems to me basic common sense would come into play here. "If I leave my pack and wander away from it, someone or something has the opportunity to take it, if I take it with me there is no opportunity to take it".

    There are two choices, risk losing it, or don't. I prefer the latter, but apparently many people discount it.
    +1. too much property accountability beat into me.
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