Yes, but increasingly less rare. Some of that can be attributed to "media", but if you think about the ever increasing encroachment of humans on wild areas, AND our preservation efforts with regard to wildlife, something's gotta give at some point. If nothing changes, then expectations can remain the same in terms of what we might expect to see and deal with on the trail. Alas, everything changes. I just bought my first can of bear spray recently.
Yeah, not like horses, right?
Me, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPlkAWI1jI
I won't be so assuming in the future.
All fine and good, but I think the main point of Shutterbug's post was that the attacks we're hearing about aren't the standard "food mistakes" that were common with almost every bear "issue" in the eastern US for the longest time. That is my concern, too.