I was on a section hike somewhere around Grayson Highlands area a few years ago and was taking a break right on trail hot as hell shirt off hanging in tree and i see something out of the corner of my eye about 30 yards away it looked like a big black dog no it was a bear cub walking down the mountain the cub met the trail and went the other way but I didn't see mamma. I was shaking as I put my shirt and pack on saying out loud where's momma luckily I was going the other way, never seen momma. Good advice above! You really only hear the occasional issues with black bears but it does happen and it's good to know what to do. Especially the smokies where there's something like 1 or 2 every square mile?