[pct-l] bear stories

[Ellen Shopes]

I had lived a few years in the Adirondacks of upstate NY, so I had had quite a few bear encounters...
When my husband and I planned our High Sierra hike from the Sequoias to Mt Whitney, he said I could handle the bear problems...
On the first day, hiking to Bearpaw we heard there was a bear in the trail ahead.  I bravely/stupidly took the lead.  When we rounded a curve and saw the bear, we all froze in our respective tracks.  I deliberately moved forward, making noise, waving my arms, etc...the bear didn't give an inch!  When I got within about 25-30 feet of it, I stopped.  This was not the behavior I had come to expect from the bears back east!
Off to my side in the brush, I heard a rustle.  I glanced over and saw a cub messing around!
I quickly retreated.  I think my husband may have been laughing or shaking his head.  The cub clambored down onto the trail.  Mama and cub hiked ahead of us on the trail for about 1/2 mile more, before sauntering up a streambed.

And that was just the first of our bear encounters on that trip!


FWIW, I'll repeat the experiment that a ranger in the Sierras told us he conducted testing out bear-proof food containers.  He loaded each with food and left them near Onion Valley, which had an active bear at the time.  The bear ignored the cans, but went straight to the Ursack.  He picked it up and bashed it against the rocks until the rivets gave way, then had a nice meal...

Elderly Ellen