[Cdt-l] Grizz
stephen olshansky
olshanskystephen at yahoo.com
Tue Jan 3 13:52:19 CST 2012
Was camped at Avalanche lake early in the season on a south bound. Was cooking in the designated area. A griz came thundering down the trail I just had come in on, so he knew I was there. I'll Never forget the sound of his paws hitting the ground, no sound like it. I was cooking a lipton at boil and my food bags were out and he stopped very close. He was huge. Maybe 25-30 feet away, maybe closer, he looked me over. I didn't have bear spray. I couldn't help myself, I looked into those dark predator eyes. If he wanted me, I was toast. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, looking. Then he moved off.
I have had other encounters also and actually knew someone who was attacked and survived. The person she was with didn't though. Spend enough time out there and you're going to meet them. Most all encounters I have ever heard of with griz don't seem to have much to do with food... like the blacks, but I could be wrong. Most of the time it's surprising them, or getting between a mother and cubs, which is highly unlikely. I have a healthy respect for them as do I for the blacks...who I have had a ton of encounters with. With that said, we all know it's unlikely to have a major problem. Even though I have gone solo through Griz country I think it's definitely better in groups, and my next hike I hope to hook up with some other thru's going through the griz areas.
Life is a hike...
The Otter
________________________________
From: "bcss at bresnan.net" <bcss at bresnan.net>
To: sidselliott at aol.com; cdt-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 2:15 PM
Subject: [Cdt-l] Grizz
There were three of us and I suspect the larger the group the more noise you
make. Even so, we saw black bears in NM in the Black Range and in CO in
several places. First Griz was in Yellowstone headed for Summit Lake. It
was windy and it didn't hear us until we were almost on it. We stopped and
made a lot of noise and when it finally saw us it took off. Spookiest place
for me was the Scapegoat which had been literally roto-tilled by bears
digging. Only bear we saw was a black, though. We didn't see any in the
Bob but encountered lots of fresh tracks. Saw a couple of Griz in Glacier
at a safe distance and that was it. I think the thing to remember is that
they can't hear you very well if it is windy or near a loud stream. Need to
be extra noisy in those circumstances.
We generally hung our food several hundred feet from camp and cooked near
where we hung it. Never had anything bothered, but one of the hang poles at
a campsite in Glacier was totally clawed up. I did get in the tent a few
times then realized I had candy or some other food in my pockets which I ate
immediately.
We saw a Mexican Grey Wolf in NM (Seg.12) and a northern variety Grey Wolf
in Glacier about a mile before Waterton Lake. Those were the most exciting
sightings for me.
best wishes,
Jerry Brown (bearcreek)
-----Original Message-----
From: cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Ellie Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 11:15 AM
To: cdt-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] Cdt-l Digest, Vol 52, Issue 3
I hiked with my younger brother through Glacier and only saw Grizz miles
away.
South of Yellow Stone I saw a large male. I've a feeling I walked directly
past him, and when I looked over my shoulder and turned he was probably 50
yards behind me. We studied each other a few seconds and both moved on our
way.
I walked out into a meadow in southern Yellowstone to see mama and two
Yearlings. Mama and one Yearling stood to examine me and then took off
across the meadow.
I was bluff charged by a young male (Ranger said about 2-3 when I showed the
picture to him) about 20 miles south of Heart Lake. I stood my ground with
my large can of Bear Spray aimed and ready. He swerved away about 10-15
yards away and circled around on the trail to follow me as I moved slowly
away, spray aimed. He stopped once I reached the meadow, and once out of
sight I sprinted to Heart Lake doing my fastest 20 miler EVER! Thereafter,
I never quit singing or having Spray at the ready.
Ellie
sidselliott at aol.com
-----Original Message-----
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Sender: cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:01
To: <cdt-l at backcountry.net>
Reply-To: cdt-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Cdt-l Digest, Vol 52, Issue 3
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Today's Topics:
1. The Grizz (rockmarkstar at aol.com)
2. Re: The Grizz (Moynihan)
3. Re: The Grizz (thomas hogeboom)
4. Re: The Grizz (Moynihan)
5. Re: The Grizz (Bob Bankhead)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2012 23:32:06 -0500 (EST)
From: rockmarkstar at aol.com
Subject: [Cdt-l] The Grizz
To: cdt-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID: <8CE97E7C8D00970-E30-64C21 at webmail-stg-d15.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Okay, so I was just drinking some hot chocolate, dreaming about the CDT, and
just happened read my first "Grizzly Mauling Story" while browsing the
cdt-l, and I have to ask. Is it really foolish to hike alone in grizzly
country? I'm pretty sure the answer is "yes," but should I let that deter me
from entering one of these areas solo?
-Flyboxer
(who would rather box flies than bears)
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2012 21:05:11 -0800
From: Moynihan <mary.moynihan at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] The Grizz
To: rockmarkstar at aol.com
Cc: cdt-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID:
<CAGE+5cydxh9NYAnV==4WVHwuB0bVJVREupMvqBO0r_-zVng1iQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Yes and no..... You're of course safer with another hiker and a few hikers.
I hiked the entire BOB-Glacier solo( as well as everything north of Monarch
Pass, CO...) and although many tried to discourage this, I didn't have
another option and I really enjoyed it. I think I developed better senses as
I was constantly listening, looking and being aware. I was awoken by bears a
couple of nights up north, was told by rangers I had camped with grizz at a
couple of sites in Yellowstone (towards the end of a thru hike I sleep like
a log!) and I saw two grizz along the way just shy of Glacier, a mom-cub or
adolescent-adolescent combo. They have terrible vision (like
ours) and even though I had my arms waving and saying "hey bear" they
couldn't figure me out. They stood up, huffed and thats when I backed away.
I had wondered how I'd react when I'd run into them and I think I did well.
I immediately drew my bear spray, raised my arms, calmly responded with a
"Hey Bear", prepared myself to drop to the ground with hands above head but
was fortunate to be able to just walk away, back up the trail about a 1/8
mile to which I walked cross country down hill still making lots of noise.
I also walked with a bell on my poles and although some say it doesn't work,
I stand by my opinion that it does. I spooked a very big bear in
yellowstone. I never saw him, only his massive tracks and I believe if it
weren't for the bell I would have walked right up on his ass.
My recommendation: Keep a clean camp. Hang your clothes for peace of mind.
Hang your toothpaste, chapstick. Don't walk with music...Bears are awesome
and you'll be very happy to see one (assuming it is at a distance!)
-speedstick
On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 8:32 PM, <rockmarkstar at aol.com> wrote:
> Okay, so I was just drinking some hot chocolate, dreaming about the
> CDT, and just happened read my first "Grizzly Mauling Story" while
> browsing the cdt-l, and I have to ask. Is it really foolish to hike
> alone in grizzly country? I'm pretty sure the answer is "yes," but
> should I let that deter me from entering one of these areas solo?
> -Flyboxer
> (who would rather box flies than bears)
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cdt-l mailing list
> Cdt-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l
>
>
--
*Three trails, one woman. To find about more about Mary and her recent
completion of the Triple Crown visit* http://www.marriedtothetrail.com/
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 07:54:44 -0500 (EST)
From: "thomas hogeboom" <thogeboom at fairpoint.net>
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] The Grizz
To: Cdt-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID:
<51349.71.181.127.236.1325595284.squirrel at webmail.fairpoint.net>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
My hiking partner sustained a leg injury halfway through Glacier Nat.
Park and had to get off the trail, leaving me to hike alone through the
southern half of the park and the Bob Marshall/Scapegoat wilderness.
I started off carried bear bells, but those drove me nuts so I sent them
home and relied on yelling Hey, bear! or Cold beer! every time I got into
heavy brush or came around a corner. At one point the trail went over a
little rise, so I yelled hey bear and then heard a commotion ahead. When I
gingerly moved ahead and peered over the rise, there was a bear partway up a
tree, with paws draped over a branch. It chuffed and snapped its jaws and I
could clearly hear the clacking of teeth (at a distance of perhaps 25
yards). It had a hump behind the head, so I took it to be grizzly.
I moved on and hiked the next two miles at record pace.
Nighttime was the worst, I worried constantly about a bear coming into my
camp at night, and I slept with the spray can at the ready. An attack never
came, but if it did, I figured a blast of spray would just send the bear
into a rage and might even make things worse. But it was all I had, so I
hung my hat on it.
Much later, I got picked up hitchhiking by a former Yellowstone park ranger
who gave me his 2 cents worth on bear spray. He told me he was leading a
group in the park when a large griz mounted a direct charge. He aimed his
(large size) canister and sent out a steady spray as the bear came up, and
it veered off at the last second. He was not enthusiastic about the smaller
backpacker-sized canisters, as the charge is only good for about 7 seconds.
I figure that there are times when I carried a lot of extra water (like in
the Great Divide Basin) and put up with the extra weight. Why not bite the
bullet in GNP and YNP and carry the larger canister? But I have to admit, I
never did carry the big canister and never had to use the little one. It's
an individual decision for sure.
The Hog
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 08:17:28 -0800
From: Moynihan <mary.moynihan at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] The Grizz
To: thogeboom at fairpoint.net
Cc: Cdt-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID:
<CAGE+5czrLN++eG--bA0gNe3RJ4UdsxemQKNGLhf+ATB=e+dORg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I never thought about yelling out Cold Beer! Thats awesome and hey, it just
might get you some trail magic!
On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 4:54 AM, thomas hogeboom
<thogeboom at fairpoint.net>wrote:
> My hiking partner sustained a leg injury halfway through Glacier Nat.
> Park and had to get off the trail, leaving me to hike alone through
> the southern half of the park and the Bob Marshall/Scapegoat wilderness.
>
> I started off carried bear bells, but those drove me nuts so I sent
> them home and relied on yelling Hey, bear! or Cold beer! every time I
> got into heavy brush or came around a corner. At one point the trail
> went over a little rise, so I yelled hey bear and then heard a
> commotion ahead. When I gingerly moved ahead and peered over the
> rise, there was a bear partway up a tree, with paws draped over a
> branch. It chuffed and snapped its jaws and I could clearly hear the
> clacking of teeth (at a distance of perhaps 25 yards). It had a hump
> behind the head, so I took it to be grizzly.
>
> I moved on and hiked the next two miles at record pace.
>
> Nighttime was the worst, I worried constantly about a bear coming into
> my camp at night, and I slept with the spray can at the ready. An
> attack never came, but if it did, I figured a blast of spray would
> just send the bear into a rage and might even make things worse. But
> it was all I had, so I hung my hat on it.
>
> Much later, I got picked up hitchhiking by a former Yellowstone park
> ranger who gave me his 2 cents worth on bear spray. He told me he was
> leading a group in the park when a large griz mounted a direct charge.
> He aimed his (large size) canister and sent out a steady spray as the
> bear came up, and it veered off at the last second. He was not
> enthusiastic about the smaller backpacker-sized canisters, as the
> charge is only good for about 7 seconds.
>
> I figure that there are times when I carried a lot of extra water
> (like in the Great Divide Basin) and put up with the extra weight. Why
> not bite the bullet in GNP and YNP and carry the larger canister? But
> I have to admit, I never did carry the big canister and never had to
> use the little one. It's an individual decision for sure.
>
> The Hog
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cdt-l mailing list
> Cdt-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l
>
--
*Three trails, one woman. To find about more about Mary and her recent
completion of the Triple Crown visit* http://www.marriedtothetrail.com/
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 08:45:47 -0800
From: "Bob Bankhead" <wandering_bob at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] The Grizz
To: "'Moynihan'" <mary.moynihan at gmail.com>, <thogeboom at fairpoint.net>
Cc: Cdt-l at backcountry.net
Message-ID: <002101ccca37$24fb9020$6ef2b060$@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Or descended upon by a mass of rabidly thirsty thru-hikers. Bear spray will
have no effect on them. You're doomed....especially once they find out you
were only joking.
Better you should go kick a Grizzly cub in the butt in front of Momma Bear.
Your chances of survival would be better.
From: cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Moynihan
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 8:17 AM
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] The Grizz
I never thought about yelling out Cold Beer! Thats awesome and hey, it just
might get you some trail magic!
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