[at-l] Bear Phobia

[dfaddleton@mindspring.com (David)]

>>It would really help me to read stories from the other listers about times
that they saw bears and what happened.  I would also like to hear from those
of you who have never even heard or let alone seen one on an entire hike.

Bear Encounters

My first bear encounter occurred in the car while driving to Rock Gap in NC.
We saw a juvenile black bear dash across the road, and into the shadows of
the forrest. This was after dark.

My second bear encounter occurred in the Cohuttas near the Three Forks
trailhead of the Rough Ridge Trail. I was finishing up a fine week-end hike,
taking a dump. I did not see the bear appear in the clearing, but the bear
saw me, pants down, sitting on a log. I heard the bear in time to see its
enormous backside disappear into the bushes. It, too, rushed away and I
watched and heard the bushes move and crack as it disappeared.

A third bear encounter occurred also in the Cohuttas. It was dusk. I heard
something moving in the bushes. I also smelled something. I went to the
creek to get water. I spotted the profile of the juvenile maybe 10 yards
away. It spotted me. We stared at each other. Finally, as it grew darker and
the bear became more difficult to see in the dwindling light, I got my water
and returned to camp. I hung the food that night. The next morning, while
breaking camp to visit Jacks River Falls, I saw and heard bushes moving as
we approached a camp site. At the campsite we heard a great hue and cry. The
bear had taken a backpack and the campers had frightened the bear to drop it
and leave it. I assume it was the same bear I saw the evening before. It did
not bother at all that night while we slept.

More confusing to me than any of these bear encounters was the morning in
Vogel State Park when I awoke to the sound of a creature examining my gear
not a foot below me where I lay in my hammock. I remained still and opened
an eye to see a skunk nosing around my stuff. I decided merely to lie still
and watch it and let it do whatever it wanted to do with my gear. All the
food was closed up in containers and the skunk eventually got bored and
moved away.

David