[pct-l] Newbie - 'alone in the dark' freak outs on the trail

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good evening, All,

I agree with the comments of Susan of Spokane about camping in close
proximity to obvious big-game trails.  This really doesn’t become much of a
problem until the Cascades, i.e. N. California to Canada, because that’s
where big-game is most common.  They are all creatures of habit, and
commonly use some combination of familiar trails to travel to water; mostly
at night.  In dry seasons their options may be seriously limited so they
can’t just go somewhere else when there’s a human in the way.  Also in the
Pacific NW, the terrain tends to be brushy which reduces or restricts
travel options for them.

Deer – usually Columbian Blacktail – don’t travel in herds, but there may
be a band of 2-4.  Most often in late summer there will be a doe and two
5-month-old fawns.  When she finds your tent in the way, momma will be
cautious and may nervously stomp a hoof occasionally, and may also make a
peculiar exhaling noise – like a whistle that doesn’t actually
whistle.  They’ll
probably fuss around quite a bit but they will finally get up the courage
to pick their way past a tent.   Once I was sleeping in a bivy, and the
wind must have been strange because I became surrounded by 4-6 whitetail
all stomping, whistling and trotting in a circle before they zeroed-in on
exactly where I was.

I sometimes tell a tongue-in-cheek story to the effect that bears have big,
soft, fuzzy feet so a camper can’t hear them.  That’s true as far a feet
go, but generally bears are quite noisy because they are not a prey species.
They sniff, and snort, and moan, and groan, and shuffle their feet as they
plow through the brush, sticking their nose and paws into anything
interesting.  Most often – except for California park bears – they leave
immediately when they get the scent of a human; probably waking a sleeping
hiker but not causing any mischief.

Elk are common in the Northwest, and in late summer they are most often are
found in bands of 3-15 cows or 3-4 bulls; seldom mixed.  A lead elk is
rather of like a fullback:  “Hey, diddle-diddle, right up the middle!”  If
I thought about sleeping on what appeared to be a busy trail I’d be more
concerned about elk than anything else.  They weigh almost as much as a
small saddle horse.  http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=167391

In Washington’s Goat Rocks Wilderness I’ve heard that mountain goats
approach camps, but I’ve never experienced any that close.

Somewhat east of the PCT I’ve had wild horses and antelope come very close
to camp but they haven’t been a nuisance.

For me, one of the biggest aggravations is cattle that wander around
grazing all night swinging those huge, Swiss cow-bells, particularly those
between Seiad and Mt. Ashland.

Generally, a weary hiker can get a good night’s sleep if they stay off the
obvious trails and comfortably away from water holes.

Enjoy your planning,

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 11:34 AM, Susan Virnig <susan at newstories.org> wrote:

> Dear Anne,
>
> I'd like to add my story to all the good information you've received.  I
> decided to start section-hiking the PCT in 1977 when I was 28 years old.  I
> knew no one in eastern Washington who was interested and felt fine about
> going alone, having gotten lots of good training through the Spokane
> Mountaineers.  With the exception of my supportive spouse, EVERYONE I
> talked to was appalled.  A young woman alone in the wilderness???  I
> quickly learned to keep my mouth shut about what I was doing.
>
> My intention was to hike Rainy Pass south to Stevens Pass, about 120
> miles, but I decided a shorter segment would be good to try things out,
> make some adjustments, then try the longer stretch.  I started at Hart's
> Pass hiking south to Rainy, about 30 miles.  The first night I pitched my
> tent between the trail and a small stream that was downhill a bit.  It was
> an old fluorescent orange hunting tent with lots of guy strings that
> stretched out in all directions.  As I lay inside after it got dark, I
> began to hear lots of noises, and then lots of tugs on all the guy strings.
>  I quivered in my bag and only slept fitfully.
>
> The next morning I realized that I had pitched my tent in the middle of a
> faint animal track that lead down to the stream.  All these critters were
> simply trying to get to their normal drinking spot and had to detour around
> my tent.  Of course they ran into my guy strings.  First learning:  don't
> pitch your tent on the thoroughfare between the trail and a stream.  The
> next night I picked a nice dry spot away from a water source and had a
> blissfully quiet night.  Second learning:  go buy a proper backpacking
> tent.  I hiked my longer section, sometimes camping alone, sometimes ending
> up near someone else.  Since that first scary night, I finished the WA PCT
> by the early 80s, then got involved in other aspects of life -- having a
> child, graduate school, etc.  One day in my 50s I woke up with this thought
> in my mind:  if I'm going to finish the PCT in this lifetime, I better get
> going.  So I set a goal of finishing Oregon by the time I turned 60.  Now
> I've walked from Manning Pro
>  vincial Park to Ashland, Oregon in an unbroken line of section hikes.  Of
> the approximately 1000 miles, I've done about a third of the distance solo.
>  I find that I am so much more attuned to the sights and sounds of the
> mountains, I notice so much more and my memories are so much sharper when
> I'm alone.
>
> Here's wishing you a great thru-hike.  I hope that you will come to enjoy
> hiking solo as much as I have.
>
> --Susan from Spokane
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