[Bushwacker]

With the prospect of a long night Sunday viewing the Perseid meteor shower, we decided to check out the forest roads around Beckler River. One of our upcoming hikes was to be the Mt. Fernow Potholes. We checked out the trail, which is an old fisherman's trail. As we proceeded down the trail, some movement was detected within about ten feet of the trail in the bushes. The next thing seen is the head of an extremely large black bear looking through the bushes. No exaggeration...he was damn close. I've encountered quite a few bears over the years and they normally move off. This one didn't. Backing away slowly, it was decided to head back to the road. One hundred yards from the road, I look to the left and there he was parallelling the trail. Probably just avoiding us, but not sure we quickened our pace back to the truck. Later in the day, ran into another hiker who has seen quite a few bears this year. Called the ranger station in Skykomish and they confirmed quite a few bear sightings this year. Could it be that due to the abundance of snow and the late melt that wild berries are a little late this year and the bears are congragating in greater numbers to eat their fill? Also a meal is more important than their fear of people? I'm not sure, but will be a little more aware of the possibility of meeting more friendly bears BW P.S. Lots of cameras...no pictures! That's how spooky it was!

[MtnGoat]

The last few times i've seen a bear, it was on Johnson ridge or Beckler ridge. Must have ideal conditions. Lot's of picnic baskets?

[salish]

Bushwacker: Dslayer posted a message several weeks back about a black bear near Manastash Lake (?) that parrelled his route and appeared to be following him, maybe he'll chime in here. I encountered a very large and aggressive campground bear at Hosmer Lake in the Oregon Cascades a couple of summers ago. It was very unnerving. I haven't seen any bruins this year yet but I've seen quite a bit of scat. Interesting theory about the berries being late this year.

[Tom]

Just curious about bears in the NW. What areas do you worry about them enough to store your food in a bear bag, carry bear spray, etc. I've never encountered a bear when hiking, and only once from the safety of my car when driving to a trailhead. In fact, I've seen more bears in my neighborhood than I have in the backcountry. Not not sure if I'm just lucky, haven't been off trail enough, etc. but figure it can't hurt to be better educated about something like this particularly in regards to food storage.

[djh]

Good subject. So far, all of my on trail sightings have been rear-end shots as the terrified bear bolts off into the woods. The most bears I've encountered at camp were in the Dome Peak area in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Six or more grazing on open slopes not more than 200 yards from camp. I only stayed the weekend but friends said the bruins stayed all week. I think at that point there was definately an understanding between the bears and hikers, but I certainly wouldnt tempt them with a fish fry! I think it's always a good idea to hang your food. Being ransacked by a bear is kind of rare , but I have been covertly pillaged by marmots, gray jays, mountain beaver(supposedly an herbivore) , squirrels and Insert order of rodentia here. I have experimented with various ground level stashes but this usually results in me patching stuff later. I like to refer to my bivy bag as the "bear burrito" Its a good idea to make some noise when solo hiking, especially through the brush. I have thought about carrying a spray, but I'm afraid of user error and blinding myself in the brush . When hiking with a group I try to include someone that looks like a slow runner. - Dave Harwell

[Bushwacker]

Definitely would hang food on any overnight, regardless of the area I'm staying in. The old"Better safe than sorry" routine works just fine for me. As far as bearspray while hiking, I'm not sure. I've done a lot of investigation into the various commercial sprays weighed against conflicting reports on effectiveness. Kinda like shark repellent...more peace of mind that you have it, but does it really work. Then the word that pops into mind when you talk bear spray.....Grizzly. I'm a believer in best hope is that you're not put in that scenario. I don't think spray would be much of a deterrant if a pissed-off grizzly is bent on putting a hurt on you. What's the old story? You can tell the difference between Black bear and Grizzly bear scat. Grizzly scat has undigested pieces of bear spray can in it. Of course, the chance of having an encounter with a grizzly is remote. There probably is a way to figure probability on it happening, but I don't want to go there. I had enough of that yesterday Hey Dave, you got me thinking. Better to blind yourself in the bush...that way you don't see what's about to happen! BW

[salish]

I took to bear bagging all the time a couple of years ago, and it's been kind of hard because I'm sort of lazy about it. My hiking buddy usually does it because I whine about it being too much work. I've thought about the Ursack a few times and I've also given some thought to using a bag with holes in it (or an onion mesh bag) on a long cord that I could fill with rocks and throw into the deepest part of a lake or creek. Of course, the food would have to be sealed in ziplocks. Wouldn't the submerged bag completely hide the food scent? Anyway, just a thought. Probably would be a pain in the butt.

[Bushwacker]

Gonna test some probabilities and statistics tomorrow! Hiking into Fernow Potholes. If the bear is probably there, I may become a statistic. BW

[RainierRidgeRunner]

I have yet to see any bears out on the trails. I have heard some people say that they doubt there is a substantial number of grizzlies out here. If I suddenly walked upon a bear, I don't know what I would do. I know your not supposed to run but I would be terrified.

[Bushwacker]

I know what you mean. A little joke about becoming a statistic My real feelings are respect and caution. Any bear should be treated that way. How you react can be the key. Every expert says"Remain calm". How do you stay calm with a bear charging...ears back...eyes glaring...lips curled Honestly I don't know if I could remain calm. Hopefully never have to find out. BW

[MCaver]

I've seen 2 bears in my 2 years in the area. The first was last year on the Spray Park Trail on Mount Rainier, mom and 2 cubs. The cubs bolted when they saw me, but mom was much more interested in berries than me. She ambled off uneventfully after about 10 minutes. On that trail, she probably sees more people on a daily basis than I do. The second was on the FS road out to the Downey Creek Trail (can't remember the number) a few months ago. A small black bear came down from one of the trailheads, crossed the road and started eating near the river. Made me a bit more alert while hiking Downey Creek.

[Tom]

I was reading a small pocket sized primer at Barnes & Noble the other night put out by Falcon Press. Some key points were to avoid direct eye contact, wave your hands slowly (as if doing jumping jacks but in slow motion), keep your cool, and back slowly away (do not turn your back). Go at least 1/4 mile away, wait 15 minutes, then return (if you must) making lots of noise and upwind of the bear so it knows you are coming.

[Bushwacker]

Went into Fernow Potholes today. We didn't get to see the bear this time, but did see some track and an absolute huge pile of fresh scat. Also saw evidence of "Heavy" traffic in and around berry bushes. Judging the sheer size of all the bear sign we saw, especially the scat, there is a monster roaming on Johnson Ridge BW