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[pct-l] Trail of Death (Was; Weapons on the trail?)




Bears don't get my attention nearly as much as cougars.  Never seen one
though I'd love to - but at a distance.  I was hiking up around Mt.
Hood, just me & my dog, one day a few years ago, got home & heard a news
report of a cougar stalking a small group on the same trail the day
before.  Sent a chill up my spine when I heard it!  I read somewhere
that you wouldn't see or hear a cougar until it attacks & that they can
leap something like 18 ft.  Don't know if it's fact or fiction, but
either way, they're amazing animals.

Dave
dave@dalbey.org


> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-admin@mailman.backcountry.net
> [mailto:pct-l-admin@mailman.backcountry.net]On Behalf Of
> Bighummel@aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 9:13 AM
> To: kublakhanpics@mindspring.com; pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] Trail of Death (Was; Weapons on the trail?)
>
>
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> A weapon will be more useful to have in your home than on the
> trail and for
> defense against human attackers, not animals.
>
> As I understand bears, a machete might help stop a bear, but
> then again, it
> just might make him irrate enough to kill you just before he
> bleeds to death.
>  Also, having a machete sticking out of your pack should
> really make the
> trail angels and supplier towns comfortable, . . . NOT!
> The local sheriff
> might take one look and be convinced that you're not
> something that they want
> spending the night or day in his town.
>
> An ice axe is a highly intimidating tool that will not stop a
> bear but just
> might encourage a ill intending person to back off.  It wont
> intimidate the
> local sheriff either, they've seen them coming through for decades.
>
> Of course, you may get some ribbing from your thru-hiker
> cohorts for carrying
> an ice axe in Lassen in July.
>
> Your fears are unfounded.  The need for a proactive defense
> system beyond
> bear spray or an ice axe is not warranted by anything that
> you are likely to
> find on the trail.
>
> And, with all due respect to what Fallingwater said, I must
> disagree, there
> have been reports of grizzlies sighted on the PCT in the extreme north
> Cascades, but no known incidents.  I don't think that you
> would be willing to
> carry anything that could stop a grizzly.
>
> Being aware of your surroundings and not allowing yourself to
> accidentally
> sneak up on a mother bear with cubs, will be your best
> defense.   This should
> be your greatest concern.
>
> I surprized an eight or ten point (I didn't get a good count
> of them due to
> the circumstances) buck coming around a sharp bend in the
> trail on a steep
> hillside.  We nearly collided.  He slowly lowered his rack at
> me.  There was
> no question in my mind what I should do.  I lowered my eyes
> and slowly backed
> up without any quick motions.  When I had given him sufficient room he
> bounded over the side of the trail and hauled down a slope at
> full speed that
> I would need a rope and harness to descend.
>
> I had to change my underwear then.  I can still smell his
> steamy exhale of
> surprize and replay those very few seconds of the encounter
> as though they
> lasted minutes.
>
> I was fortunate that this buck didn't react out of
> instinctual defense.  I
> would have been severely hurt or killed with no chance to
> withdraw a weapon
> from my pack. No, my/your best defense is knowing how to show total
> supplication to an animal that feels threatened and
> attempting to avoid the
> situation to begin with.
>
> And,
>
> then,
>
> . . . there is the peaceful resignation in a truely ugly unfortunate
> encounter with a huge powerful animal (God forbid), of
> knowing that this is
> how nature is, the circle of life hasn't yet crowned man as
> the ultimate head
> of the food chain in all situations, and, if this is how your
> life is to end,
> then what better situation (doing what you love), what better
> place (in the
> grand wilderness) for this to happen?
>
> Greg
>
> Salvitur Ambulando
> (walking solves all things)
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