[at-l] I'm on a roll

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

If you are lucky enuf to see a bear, celebrate. I've only seen 4 or 5 in the
wilds in the last 40 years.

 Troublesome bears will be well advertised in the trail registers and by word of
 mouth. In areas where they are troublesome, hang your food, or use bear-proof
 caches if they have been provided. Unless there are reports of problem bears in
 an area, few long distance hikers bother to take special precautions.

 Bears are a problem only where hikers congregate, so they are very unlikely to
 bother you if you camp away from designated campsites. Unless special hanging
 wires or bear poles are provided, hanging in a manner that will protect your
 gear and food is easier talked about than done.

  You need a tree limb strong enough to hold your food bag, but not so strong
  that a bear can crawl out and grab your bag. Since bears come in multiple
  sizes, a limb suitable is not easily found.

  Hikers who say it is no problem, really mean that they have either been lucky,
  or have hung their food in areas where bears are not a problem. Once in
  Yoesemite, I spend a half hour bear-proofing my edibles. The bear walked
  through our campsite, and past our campfire with its head looking up. Once it
  spotted our food, it took it just 3 minutes to get it down. We had to walk 11
  miles the next morning before reaching a place that served breakfast.

  Weary