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

[yawho_hiker at yahoo.com (j rhoades)]

I saw 13 bears last  year.  There were 11 unique
encounters. If I remember correctly, 12 of the bears
were in California and the 13th was right before I got
to the the Glacier Peak alternate route.  I don't
remember seeing any in Yosemite.

All of those encounters were while I was hiking and in
every case but one, the bears immediately ran away
from me.  The exception was the first bear I saw which
was a solo cub. That made it scarier since I didn't
know where its mother was.  I backed away and then
started yelling at it and then it ran away.  I found
out later that others had a similar encounter and we
decided that this might have been an orphan bear.

I didn't use bear bells and I didn't use hiking poles
so this might explain the relatively high number of
sightings.  I didn't camp in any place that looked
like it would attract the sort of people who would
feed bears or leave food carelessly laying around.  I
think that helped me avoid nighttime encounters.

Jeff



	
		
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