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talapus
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talapus
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 1:47 pm 
I am sure this is a FAQ, but I can't seem to find it. What's the consensus on bear safety when winter camping in deep snow (skiing) in the PNW? Certainly, making that morning coffee in the vestibule is an enticing thought.... TIA

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BigBrunyon
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 2:19 pm 
Several large bears remain a concern at all times in certain locales!

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treeswarper
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 2:35 pm 
Watch out for the insomniac bears. They will be really grouchy!

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Mikey
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 5:00 pm 
I have never seen bears or bear tracks in areas of Washington during cold (below 32F day and night) and deep snow. I have seen bears and bear tracts during elk hunting season (Nov 1-20) in SW Washington at 3000 - 4000 ft elevation but this was not in deep snow or below freezing weather. When we climbed Mt Adams in mid-March years ago, the only animal (other than birds) we saw was a fox at about 7,500 ft and of course there were the fox tracks. Black bears hibernate in the cold and snow regions. I did find a black bear den which was under a large tree trunk & roots. When I was in high school, I worked doing chores at a cattle ranch and a bear killed and drug off a new-born calf. My dog and I followed the bear tracks to the bear den (this was in April, no snow on the ground, elevation about 800 ft). Did I crawl into the bear den? No way!!! I did peer into the bear den but I did not have a flashlight so I did not see much. The bear den opening was smaller that I expected: probably 30" wide and 20" high.

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Bootpathguy
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 8:48 pm 
talapus wrote:
What's the consensus on bear safety when winter camping in deep snow
The bears safety or your safety?

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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talapus
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talapus
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 9:53 pm 
I do care deeply about the bears' concerns and well-being, and I do want to have a "big tent", but I am not quite willing to bring the bears into it!

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Randito
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 10:41 am 
I once skied past a bear emerging from it's den in Glacier Basin below the Interglacier. That was in June, but based on the amount of dirt and tracks surrounding the den entrance it looked like the bear had been active for a while. I've encountered bears only a handful of times in 5 decades of travel in the Cascades and Olympics in all of those times the bears were galloping away from me, even the sow and cubs. In the '60s, I once lost some food to a bear on the Olympic coast. We had cached food in a backpack strung on a rope between two trees while day hiking. On our return camp, we found that the ONP bears figured out how to knock it down and feasted on our supplies, but we never saw the bears. A bear resistant food container avoids such difficulties and also secures food from raccoons and rodents, which IME I have lost more lbs of food to than bears over the years.

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Bootpathguy
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 5:26 pm 
gimme a "b" B! gimme a "e" E! gimme a "a" A! gimme a "r" R! gimme a "a" A! gimme a "n" N! gimme a "o" O! gimme a "i" I! gimme a "a" A! What's that spell!? IRRATIONAL FEAR! What's that mean!? GO DO YOUR THING! gooOOOOOO TEAM!!!

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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Downhill
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 6:17 pm 
+1 Bootpathguy Unless I am in grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) habitat, my level of concern with black bears (Ursus americanus) is immaterial. Of all the things I am concerned with when heading into the backcountry, black bears rank about #50 on that list.

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timberghost
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 7:10 pm 
What's number 1

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Kim Brown
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 7:29 pm 
Bootpathguy wrote:
gimme a
If you don't know the answer, there's no need to substitute ignorance with petty mocking. Aren't you tired of that? I am. frown.gif

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
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Downhill
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 7:59 pm 
timberghost wrote:
What's number 1
I am often alone in the mountains, so #1 for me is having an accident and not being able to "self-rescue".

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Bootpathguy
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 8:58 pm 
C'mon people. Lighten up. Fun'n around has been lost these days. Everything and everyone has got'n some damn serious. "Aren't you tired of that? I am"

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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Gil
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 10:07 pm 
Sleeping with a bear in the tent would be a lot warmer. Would try that.

Friends help the miles go easier. Klahini
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BigBrunyon
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PostSun Nov 08, 2020 11:39 pm 
Griz are starting to be known to wander in down into the north cascs in the brutal snows of winter.

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