Yes...sorry for my lack of response. I've had a super large amount of patients this week, as I'm going on the trail all next week. I've just been reading and taking in all the info. THANK YOU so much to everyone who has contributed. I've gotten a lot of good info from all of you. I do have bear spray. I'm very careful re LNT and food precautions. Having never seen a bear, I'm still nervous...but I'm also really excited. Hike is in 2 days...I get to do an AT section once per year and it is one of the highlights of my year that I look forward to most. Thanks to everyone. I'll post when I get back and let everyone know how it went.
I don’t think there are grizzlies in Yosemite. They have black bears that are, “persistent.” I don’t know anything about bear spray in Yosemite, though.
Someone, and I’m sorry but I don’t remember who, asked if there were more bear attacks in the greater Yellowstone area because of Covid, and the park having less/more visitors than usual. I believe the park has MORE visitors than usual, and there are no bus visitors, so the people are maybe in different places than usual. There’s also one road that is closed for construction, and that’s where people love to go see black bears and their cubs, so things are a little different here, but I don’t think that is driving the incidents. First, in the six years I’ve been here, there are always incidents. I can’t quote articles, but I think the local paper has made comments about bear-food being a little harder to find this year. The bear population has been growing and so there is also some bear crowding, and when a bear moves out of the park and into a rural area, there’s more interaction with people. Sometimes it isn’t good. I think it was within the last couple of weeks that some neighbors told a rancher that they had seen a bear around his place in the last few hours. He wanted to check on one shed, and the bear happened to be in it at the time. He was mauled, but survived. I know an early incident this year involved a woman who was hiking a trail in Yellowstone, and she surprised a grizzly with at least one cub. The mama bear took a swipe at the lady and both bear and cub disappeared into the woods. The woman had bruises and maybe scratches. The park service in Yellowstone and Grand Teton say to make noise when you hike, so I do. I did a hike last week where there were warning signs that a bear had been guarding a carcass, but that was three weeks earlier. I passed safely, but can attest that the carcass still smelled. Two hikers I passed that day said a grizzly had walked through their camp that morning. According to them, the grizzly looked a little surprised, then ambled on. I’m not a very brave person, but I’ll continue to take my chances with my fellow county residents, be they people or bears. I make noise, though, so when we’re surprised to see each other, there’s a bit of distance.
all good in the woods, I too really only get out once maybe twice a year for my 1 wk section hikes. My section this year was supposed to be Ewrin to Hampton tn. Setting me up about 30 miles from the GSMNP. but I scrapped my plans this year. Have a great hike and keep that camera ready. I think a lil nervous is good for ya keeps you on your toes/ self awareness. And if that's all it takes is a can of bear spray and your good go for it. Like I said that could be a defense against bear,an aggressive person or a rabid animal etc.... please do come back with a trip report at least I can live vicariously through others hikes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_CaliforniaI sure thought that was a big ole brown Grizzily bear on their state flag though
My trail name says it all.
There were grizzly bears in California -- somewhat golden -- until about 1900.
The last confirmed kill, which was by mistake, was in 1908.
https://www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=223402
Unconfirmed kills and sightings continued until the 1920s.
Last edited by GoldenBear; 08-07-2020 at 15:54.
So why haven't Grizzlies been reintroduced to their natural California habitat by the state? Can't help but wonder why none of the other nortwestern states grizzly population has not wandered back down to California............
California still has habitat that can sustain about 500 grizzlies.[15] In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received and rejected a petition to reintroduce grizzly bears to California.[16][17] In 2015, the Center for Biological Diversity launched a petition aimed at the California state legislature to reintroduce the grizzly bear to the state.[18][19][20] The California grizzly bear has been considered as a possible candidate for attempts at de-extinction, through the proposed use of back-breeding, cloning and genetic engineering to recreate extinct species.[21]
16 Woody, Todd (20 Jun 2014). "A New Move to Bring the Grizzly Bear Back to California". TakePart. Participant Media. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
17 "EDITORIAL: Grizzly bear homecoming?". Fresno Bee. 19 Jul 2014. Retrieved 28 Sep 2015.[dead link]
18 "Where are the Bears?". Center for Biological Diversity. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
19 Platt, John (28 Jul 2015). "Waving the Flag for the Grizzly's Return to California". TakePart. Participant Media. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
20 Miller, Craig (May 2, 2016). "Move to Return Grizzly Bears to California Will Be an Uphill Push". KQED Science. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califo...%20the%20state.
Last edited by D2maine; 08-07-2020 at 15:25.
Another bear in West Milford was just euthanized for scratching a man in the head/face. Man took his dog for evening walk, leaving garage door open and bear was in/near fridge door when he returned. To posts above--context important. Dark garage, cornered bear...I don't think there were mistakes made here by the human.
I agree if bear sees me and seems to be moving off, I don't yell. I do say thank you. I also don't look her in the eye--I look at her shoulder and if I am moving away I never take my eyes off her--I will sidestep down the trail until I feel comfortable. I never want to surprise a bear so if I see a bear first, I vocalize. I also vocalize going around a blind curve or through deep understory to avoid suprise.
Thusfar I have been lucky to have a hearty "Hey Bear" scare them away from my tent.
And remember--enjoy the experience. Black bears are like coyotes or fox--adept at living with us in our neighborboods--intelligent, powerful and with cubs, playful.
Saw a grizzly couple weeks ago. Jumped right out on the trail in front of me not 10 yds away. Somehow it didn’t see Or hear me til then. We were in brush over my head. A simple “ hey bear” and it high tailed outtta there.
This is the best info I've found about black bears:
https://bear.org/bear-facts/black-be...rs-and-humans/
My only encounter that wasn't a bear running away was with the infamous problem bear at the Fingerboard Shelter in Harriman SP, NY. After having a brief conversation with it, and seeing that he/she had zero fear of humans, I slowly made my way away from the area and camped a few miles further down the trail.
I can very happily spend my life without encountering a grizzly, and have no regrets.
Was hiking with my kids just north of GSMNP and my oldest said very matter of factly, "Hey look, a bear".
It was a full grown bear foraging for food probably initially only 10 yards from us. We just stood quietly and observed as it slowly foraged its way away from us. I'm sure we weren't quiet enough that it didn't notice us, but it didn't run from us either. I took a few pictures when it was maybe 25 yards away. The photos look like a typical Sasquatch photo in that there is only blurry fur in the midst of foliage.
Had the bear paid attention to us, it might have been a good idea to try to scare it off.
The one other bear a saw was nothing but a fur streak that lasted about 0.5 seconds.