I just met a thru-hiker here in Augusta, who was in town because “a bear got my food” about a mile south of the Chinese Wall. I didn’t get a trail name, but he’s a tall thin guy, brown hair, mustache, mid-30’s or so. He said he’s never hung his food before, keeps some of it in his tent with him, and somehow the bear just got the food when “the branch broke or whatever.” When I asked him if he’d reported this to USFS, he said that there was no one at the (presumably Indian Point) cabin when he went by. When I told him that there was a ranger station right here in Augusta, he said he wasn’t going to bother because “bears get food all the time. No biggie.” I told him about a near-fatality two years ago in the Bob (not on the trail, but still…) involving a bear that had gotten hold of human food, he was unfazed. Apparently this ******* cares nothing about the safety of his thru-hiker colleagues, so I thought I should put up this post to warn you. I will also go by the ranger station tomorrow when it’s open. I wish I could identify him by trail name, so that he could be properly shamed about this by the rest of you, but he’s certainly not going to give it to me now, after the conversation got so heated - at least on my end. I had to walk away before I ended up clocking the guy. Good luck to all you NBer’s and be extra careful near the Chinese Wall.
Montanatroutbum