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Re: [pct-l] Grizzly



Subject: 
           Re: [pct-l] Grizzly
Jeff Thompson wrote:
> 
> Jim-
> As grizzlies may be extinct in the San Juans, and you didn't see one,
> how do you know you've got a photo of a genuine grizzly den?  How's it
> different from a photo of a black bear den, an occupied cave, or a
> Bigfoot condo?   (Bells in the droppings?     ;-)
> 
> Keep on truckin'
> Jeff



Jeff -
OK - you asked for it, sooo -

There are two parts to answering your question.  The first is what
you might expect - Bigfoot tends to stay further north in Blackfeet
country and I doubt if you'd find anyone "occupying" this cave. Of
course it's also "possible" that some "holy man" or "Bear guru" was
living up there - but then it's also possible that the Klingons will
invade Earth next week.  As part of my engineer training I was taught
that ANYTHING is "possible" - even gremlins - but I also remember that
the "probability" of their existence is vanishingly small.  The
"probability" keeps it in perspective while the "possibility" holds
out hope for the "impossible".

The "cave" as you refer to it, was about a quarter mile from our
campsite and 500' up what I estimate as a 50-55 degree (not %) slope in
the middle of the last of the snowpack on that ridge.  There was timber
about 100 yards or so on either side of the den and I could see that
some of the trees had been stripped.  The location was a natural -
extremely isolated, high on the north (hi-snow) side of the ridge, in a
location where excavation would be relatively easy, close to trees for
bedding, and not obvious even from the trail across the valley.  A
classic grizzly den.

The capstone was that there were visible paths beaten in both
directions from the mouth of the den.   Grizzlies stay around their
dens for as long as a week or more after emerging.  Blacks don't.
If it was a black bear den there would have been one set of tracks
leading out - and they'd have been melted out long before we got
there (1 August).

To answer the obvious queston - no, we didn't go up there - from
where we were camped (and in fact, from any direction) it was
inaccessible without technical climbing gear.

The second part you can believe or not - your choice.  A few people
like Karen Elder and Joanne Lennox might understand, but there
are others who won't.   That's life, isn't it?  Tell me, Karen or
Joanne - does a bear have ki?   Yeah - I'd never thought about
it either - until we dropped the packs that day and just the residue
of the power that bear left behind drew me like a magnet.  Otherwise
I might never have seen that den.

Walk softly,
Jim

PS - since bear bells attract grizzlies, we don't carry them.  :-)
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