Bears... - Appalachian Trail

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#1

Okay, I’m probably wearing ya’ll out by now, grin, but, you guessed it! I have another ? ! During the summer months, how much of a problem are bears and other wildlife in concern to grubbing through my pack?? And what suggestions for steps should I take to safeguard my stuff? Out here in Colorado in some remote areas it is very wise to hang your food away from camp and high up away from the trunks of trees. I’m curious as to how much of a bother are bears to hikers through the AT.
I think that’s all I have for now! I think…grin

JTtheWolf

#2

It’s always good practice to hang your food in any area where bears are known to roam. Definitely carry some rope and some sort of sack with you. You can actually buy food hanging kits specifically for this purpose if you’re not inclined to DIY. Also, I’m a big fan of bear mace. Guard Alaska makes a good product. It’s strong enough to be effective, but not so strong that it would cause a bear permanent eye damage(some products out there are too strong). Some ppl choose not to worry about such things and in reality, the chances of being bothered by a black bear are remote at best. But if the extra weight of the bear mace doesn’t bother you, then it can’t hurt to carry it. And just FYI I’d absolutely carry it in grizzly country.

Mad Max

#3

An acquaintance of mine had his lunch spoiled and his girlfriend’s pack and gear stolen by a bear in Cherokee Natl Forest 2 Saturdays ago. As they were resting and having lunch by a stream the bear charged them - an obvious bluff - and they took off running just as the bear had hoped. He was able to grab his pack on the way past…she wasn’t so lucky. I wonder if the bear will be selling the equipment on eBay…? He got a photo of the bear as it enjoyed their well-earned noodles.

Horn Head

#4

Specifically I was interested in how the bears are during the summer months on the AT, are they very active or less active. I would imaging that they would be more active during the peak season as multitudes of hikers are passing through the area. Easy pickens. And then less active as the season progresses due to less traffic on the trails. But then, I don’t know. When in doubt, plan for the worst. I guess I’ll continue to follow one of my credos. Thanks Max for the product info.

JTtheWolf

#5

Hi JTtheWolf, you probably know this, but the Smoky Mountains have the most active bear population on the AT. Matter of fact, I think all or most of the AT shelters in the park have a fence on that “open” side of the shelter for hiker’s protection, and you are only allowed to tent if the shelter is totally full.

It’s standard practice to bear bag/hang your food on the entire AT which also prevents other critters from turning your food into their personal all you can eat buffet.

As for actual black bear activity, they are most active in early morning and late evening in the Spring and Summer months, and mating season is in July for them. I don’t think their activity is dictated so much by hiker activity, but we all work off similar natural clocks/cycles, so we’ll all probably be in the outdoors at the same time. New Jersey also has a reputation for bears. I read somewhere that last August, a hiker woke up w/a bear biting his leg, but it’s not us they’re after, it’s our food.

I worked in a wildlife refuge and I cared for some black bears. They literally eat ANYTHING…and what comes out the other end is even more gross!
:lol

They’ve got great sniffers, and let’s face it, if you just slept through the entire winter w/out eating anything, you’d probably be ravenous too!

Michele

#6

Hang your food! That includes gum, vitamins, anything that has a food smell! Over the years the problems we have had have been mice, raccoons and skunks. Up north it was the porcupine eating anythng with salt, including boots.

We saw the most bear activity in NJ. Even saw a bear catch a deer and kill it (PigChicken got it on film).

There are 1,800 bears in the Smokies, enough said. We’ve hiked and camped in the Smokies many times and have had bear in camp all night. No dinner and no breakfast until we are up the trail. They are removing the fence wire from the Smokies shelters. The last time I was thru they had removed at least 3 of the fences. During the summer time the bears are active as Michele said in the early morning and late evening. The rangers really make an effort to control problem bears in the Smokies.

We just missed two bears in VA near the Old Orchard shelter before Troutdale last June. Two hikers going south said they came upon two different bears on the trail about a mile apart and both of them ran as soon as they smelled the hikers.

We hiked GA in July in 2000 before our thru hike in '02 and saw three bear before the Hawk Mt. Shelter. All of them ran.

Over the last 30 years we have had many bear encounters, but no lost food or equipment. I can’t say the same about mice and raccoons. I’ve had raccoons chew holes in my tent before. Mice and raccoons both have chewed holes in our packs looking for something. I’ve hung up socks to dry in the shelter and the next morning mice have chewed holes in them and made a nest of the wool and had a litter of young. But no bear problems.

Just hang your food and make sure you have nothing in your tent and your pack is clean of crumbs or food.

I don’t know of anyone that has had to use the pepper spray on the AT. The spray canisters usually end up in a hiker box at a hostel.

Have a good hike and don’t worry about the bears.

Papa Smurf