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Re: [at-l] bears, contacts, money, tent

Marty:

I have experience with bears and food, so I will comment on that point.

I have seen bear protection as far south as Pass Mountain shelter in
Virginia,
but saw no bears there, just a lot of friendly white tails.

I saw no bears throughout Maryland or Pennsylvania and was never really
concerned about them there.  I usually hung my food in a bag to keep it away 
from the nocturnals who come out looking for a meal.  Racoons, etc.  After
leaving PA and heading up through NJ and NY, everything changed.  In NJ and
NY you are constantly warned about the black bears, and THEY ARE THERE!

You don't use a "bear bag" either.  Beginning around Pochuck Mountain, they
have installed bear BOXES to protect your food.  The Boxes are large steel,
foot-
locker type boxes, chained to a huge concrete slab buried in the ground.

I saw my first bears just north of Pochuck at Wawayanda Shelter and the
adjacent
state park.  One large (they all look big) black bear wandered right into the
shelter
area just at dusk.  We had already put our food in the bear box, so the bear
checked
us out, then walked over to the bear box and proceeded to toss it around and
try to rip the top off.

On close inspection, you could see this was not the first time a bear had
tried that.
Having no luck with the bear box, he headed for a tent that one of the
thru-hikers was
staying in.  When the bear began to paw at it in search for food, one of the
locals
who was with us took a couple of pots and banged them together to scare the
bear
away.  He advised to treat them "like big dogs."

The bear allowed us to take pictures (with flash). That didn't seem to bother
him. The
bear also did not seem interested in eating us, just was looking for other
food.

Lesson:  Use the bear boxes where you see them.

The next morning, three bears climbed over a 10-foot chain link at the state
park
maintenance facility nearby and completely emptied a large dumpster.  We went
over to get water and the bears ran, climbed back over the fence and
disappeared
into the woods.

Seeing the bears in the wild was a scarey, wonderful experience.  Just
knowing they could tear you apart if they wanted to was sobering. You will
also see them in
the zoo at Bear Mountain, but its not the same.

The local told us, "Just don't get between them and their food or their
cubs."

Good luck

Big E


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