Bears in Yosemite / Sequoia / Kings Canyon

SNIP
I don't think the risk is very high- unlike Yellowstone, with its
fairly dangerous grizzlies, CA only has black bears, which are much
less aggressive. The main thing you don't want to do is leave food in
your tent or in your car.
SNIP

Hi

I am a Brit who visits the US regularly with my wife and remember
camping in black bear country in California a year or two back.

The space next to ours on the camp ground was empty but around
midnight we heard some furtive "clanking and rustling" noises from
next door, just a few yards from our tent. I remarked to my wife that
the people on the next pitch had obviously arrived late and were
trying to keep quiet erecting their tent.

The next morning, the pitch was still empty but there were some pretty
impressive paw prints in the dirt!!!!!!!

Being Brits and unused to wild large carnivores, I stress that we
followed the instructions to the letter and had removed anything
smelly from the tent - including toothpaste and even the clothes we
had been wearing to barbecue - into the bear proof container.
Certainly we never felt intimidated or threatened by the presence of
bears and to our disappointment, in many camping trips to the US, have
never seen one apart from the above paw prints.

Regards




KGB

On 3 jul, 10:01, "KGB" (KGB) wrote:
SNIPI don't think the risk is very high- unlike Yellowstone, with its
fairly dangerous grizzlies, CA only has black bears, which are much
less aggressive. The main thing you don't want to do is leave food in
your tent or in your car.

SNIP

Hi

I am a Brit who visits the US regularly with my wife and remember
camping in black bear country in California a year or two back.

The space next to ours on the camp ground was empty but around
midnight we heard some furtive "clanking and rustling" noises from
next door, just a few yards from our tent. I remarked to my wife that
the people on the next pitch had obviously arrived late and were
trying to keep quiet erecting their tent.

The next morning, the pitch was still empty but there were some pretty
impressive paw prints in the dirt!!!!!!!

Being Brits and unused to wild large carnivores, I stress that we
followed the instructions to the letter and had removed anything
smelly from the tent - including toothpaste and even the clothes we
had been wearing to barbecue - into the bear proof container.
Certainly we never felt intimidated or threatened by the presence of
bears and to our disappointment, in many camping trips to the US, have
never seen one apart from the above paw prints.

Regards

KGB

Thanks a lot for all your remarks !

I have experienced a bear encounter before, but of course, being on
your own tends to be a "little" different than being in a group.

Enjoy your holidays in the meantime !

Kind regards,
Niels

On Jun 29, 12:08 pm, sally wrote:
Niels wrote in news:1183131102.705426.119050
@u2g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

I will be visiting the aforementioned NPs in the beginning of July; on
my own (unfortunately). Apart from a bear-bell and pepper-spray,
should there be other things I should carry with me in order to be
prepared for a bear encounter?

The bears in this area are vegetarians. They have been known to tear up
campsties looking for food, but they are not likely to attack people unless
you scare or threaten them (or their children). Same goes for deer and other
wild animals. Skip the pepper spray. Rocks have a longer range and are
readily available in the mountains.

I asked a Yosemite ranger about bear pepper spray. He informed me
that carrying "weapons" is always illegal in US National Parks unless
the park superintendent has specifically issued an order allowing
them. Pepper spray is not currently allowed in Yosemite and frankly
isn't needed for black bears. The superintendents at Yellowstone and
Grand Teton have approved bear pepper spray, and you can find it sold
in almost every gift shop. I overheard some rangers at Grand Teton
talking about their bear sprays, and one said he thought it was more
likely that he'd end up using it on some unruly visitor than a bear.

For my trip in the Sierras (Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP,
Sequoia NF) a couple of weeks ago, I personally witnessed one male
adult, one juvenile, and a sow with three cubs. I never felt there
was a danger, although I was cautious around the sow with cubs. I was
informed that one bear had gone through our campground in Sequoia NF.
In the Yosemite Valley backpackers campground (after my backcountry
trip was over) I was getting ready to sleep when people were yelling
at a bear to try and scare it off. This bear had gotten away with a
teen's backpack before his backcountry trip had even started. As soon
as I got to the backpackers campground, I stuffed my entire backpack
in the bear-resistant locker. I had no problem leaving out water or a
tent/sleeping bag. However - packs are easy targets for bears and
they're known to go after them even if they don't have enough time to
sniff them for food. They'll visually go after anything that they've
previously associated with food.

Here's some photo of the sow with cubs. The tree they're on is a down
giant sequoia.

http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?i...cbears0jo9.jpg
http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rcbears1tr1.jpg


My Yosemite bear photo was a bit blurry.

http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?i...rjmbearkh1.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?i...jmbear0xe7.jpg

Going through Yosemite today, there were roadside sandwich boards
saying "Speed Kills Bears". Didn't see any, though. Did see a young deer.

--
__________________________________________________ _________________
A San Franciscan who's visited 49 of 50 US states.
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ --- http://geocities.com/iconoc/
TouringSFO: http://geocities.com/touringsfo/ - IClast @ Gmail.com

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Hi Sally,

I just got home from my trip in the Sierras. And... I did see a bear,
in Sequoia NP. It was stopping by my campsite while I was reading a
book. Unfortunately for him, my food was properly stored.

No photo of the bear, but some shots can be seen at
http://picasaweb.google.com/niels.wo...California2007

All repliers: thanks for your comments.

Have safe trips!

Best regards,
Niels