[pct-l] Cathedral Lake bears

[kdpo at pacbell.net (Ken Powers)]

We remember that area well. On our first JMT we spent the first night at
Cathedral  Lake. We had been there long enough to pitch our tent and head
for the lake to pump water. All of a sudden we heard pots banging, yelling,
and flash bulbs were popping from across the lake. We looked up and a
cinnamon bear the size of a Volkswagen bug was running as fast as a car
headed straight for our tent. Our bear canister was rolled out in front of
our tent in plain view. The bear got to within about 50 feet of the tent,
made a u-turn, and headed back toward the other camp. That bear is still the
biggest one we have seen.

Marcia decided to keep her knife handy that night. She said if the bear
comes into our tent, I am going out the other side of the tent. Fortunately,
the bear left us alone. That convinced me of the benefits of bear canisters.
Now if they were just light enough to carry on a thru-hike.

Ken