[at-l] Dancing with Bears

[Sloetoe]

--- Raphael Bustin <rafeb at speakeasy.net> wrote:

> 
> Hey gang, I've been away for a while but I'm about
> to embark on this year's section hike, SOBO from the
> Bear Mountain Bridge to DWG and maybe a bit beyond.
> 
> There's much talk about bears being active in this
> region, particularly on Kitatinny ridge.
### I'm hoping that somebody with recent knowledge
responds to rafe -- the boys and I were supposed to do
DWG north this year, but the plans fell through.

> So here's my question:  is it safer to stay at or
> near the shelters (where bears may be habituated) or
to seek stealth sites where bears are less likely to
be habituated?
### Dunno. The usual response of stealth sites may
ignore the already existing amount of human/ursine
interaction -- the bears may not care *where* you
camp, cuz they come across people frequently. But,
"dunno."

> Any other comments & suggestions about this section?
### I can tell you that the largest wild black bear I
ever saw, I saw on the little piece of swampy trail
that marks (in the guide books -- anybody read those
anymore?) the closest the AT gets to NYC. And the
trail was secluded, and there were no campsites
around, and the bear didn't know I was there, and the
bear flew through a SOLID wall of vegetation the
nanosecond it saw me. (We wuz both a bit startled.)

'toe