[pct-l] Real Bear Trouble in '04 -- Attacks and Raids

[calliger at infolane.com (rjc)]

I have stealth camped away, but in ear shot, of Glen Aulin area and places 
similar
in Evolution area as well as other Sierra basins -Yo-KC, Seq- DW- etc-
that are bear/people popular- on and off since 1974..last summer being the 
last time
near Glen area... In fact, I dined at "their" campsite; then left to find 
my stealth site to sleep...
BTW- back then we just called it "getting away from the crowd"...and I too 
heard shouts of "bear"...
I woke up and saw the "bear-train-express" (2-3 bears/cubs) molesting the 
campground when
I went over to take a look in the scattered flashlight light..
...but none bothered me at my stealth site...nothing smelled
I imagine was the reason...they kept going past me.

Over the last 30 years I have witnessed a definite increase in all of the 
following:
human habituation/learned actions, fearlessness, frequency, duration, and 
aggressiveness of the bear(s).

So much so that I had at one time considered working with several bear 
"experts" to
alleviate the situation from the engineering point of view (ambiguity 
deliberate because
of work-in-progress aspects).

Richard



At 09:28 PM 2/10/2005, Brett wrote:
>Evolution Valley is and has been a classic park bear haunt for some time now.
>
>As for Glen Aulin, back in 2000 I heard campers yelling "bear" in the 
>middle of the night, while I was stealthed about a mile north along the 
>trail. Again, Glen Aulin is a classic honeypot, where bears and campers 
>have been colliding for some time.
>
>I don't mean to downplay Nocona's concerns. Bears can definitely cause 
>problems, and thru-hikers are not immune. But the risks have long been 
>there. No doubt they are getting worse in places where people continue to 
>congregate and camp en masse within the bear-protected natoinal parks. Are 
>they getting worse outside of these areas? Should thru-hikers change their 
>camping gear (beyond the bear can issue) for the sake of bears? I'd change 
>mine for the mosquitoes, perhaps. And as serendipidity would have it, the 
>problem bug and bear habitats largely coincide.
>
>Would be interested to hear of problem bear encounters while hikers were 
>genuinely stealth camping, having avoided cooking at such sites before 
>retiring for the night. I'm not condoning stealth camping where illegal or 
>imprudent. I'm simply curious, and have perhaps this childlike naivity 
>that stealth camping is like the garlic to bruin's bloodthirst.
>
>- blisterfree
>
>
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