[pct-l] Bear Story

[metam01 at earthlink.net (Monty Tam)]

Hey Walkabout!

I'm the guy you ran into where you camped that night. Or we camped. (Thanks
again for the instant potatoes)  I didn't see any bears going through the
same area, but a couple of hikers I met at Sauffley's lost all their food
to one while they were in their tent.  I think they bought a bear canister
in Big Bear City.  In Big Bear they told locals about the bear.  The only
response they got was "There's no bears around here."
At Sauffley's one of the hikers was still puzzled.  "Why do they call it
Big Bear if there's No Bears."  I wonder if the bear asked the same
question.

Warner Springs Monty



> [Original Message]
> From: Walkabout <walkaboutman@hotmail.com>
> To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Date: 2/12/2005 12:15:41 AM
> Subject: [pct-l] Bear Story
>
> I thought I would share a bear story from southern California. I started
hiking from Campo but had severe blisters and had to go home to heal. So I
started hiking form north to south in sections. This was great because I
was able to meet most of the thru hikers.
> My first hike was from Big Bear to Highway 10. It was around mile 247
when I rounded a corner and saw what I thought was a shaggy dog running
away from me. Pretty weird I thought to myself until it ran off of the
trail and climbed a tree...hum? A bear cub. I didn't stick around because I
knew that the momma bear was no doubt near by. I've had many bear
encounters in my life as a gold miner so I know better.
> So I kept hiking until I decided to take a lunch break along mission
creek. I took off my shoes and socks (no more blisters for me), broke out
some cheese, crackers and salami and was just sitting there on a butt size
rock right next to the narrow trail enjoying the view of the stream and the
cool breeze in the shade. I had a few bites and then I heard a noise behind
me coming from the direction I just came. It was black bear (brown in
color) and it had just rounded the corner of bedrock along the narrow trail
and was only 10 feet away from me. I immediately stood up bear footed (no
pun intended) and we just stared at each other for a few seconds. I'm
thinking OH Sh*t! Then suddenly the bear started running at me. I yelled
HEY! and fell over the rock backwards as the bear ran right pass me. He
just wanted by and didn't want to turn around. Of course I didn't know that
at the time. But it sure scared the hell out of me. From my point of view I
was about to be attacked by a large bear. 
> I stood there shaking for about 5 minutes as the bear had crossed the
creek and was about 50 yards away just looking at me. By the time my heart
had slowed down I thought about getting my camera out. But it was too late.
All I got was his bear butt walking away from me.
> He did follow me down the trail a bit from the other side of the creek.
That was a bit freaky.
> Hey you can have bear encounters in south California.
> Hey did anyone else see any bears around here? 
> Walkabout
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