Topic
A bear walked into my camp…
Forum Posting
A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!
Home › Forums › General Forums › General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion › A bear walked into my camp…
- This topic has 26 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 7 months, 1 week ago by Tipi Walter.
-
AuthorPosts
-
Feb 13, 2024 at 9:12 am #3803803
I would do the same: roll over and go back to sleep.
However, this was not the situation when my wife and I encountered a bear while eating dinner in Lassen NP. A bear wandered into camp and my wife noticed him when he was about 12′ from us on the other side of a downed tree. I had finished my dinner, but my wife was still eating. A single bar remained in my pack waist pocket and the rest of the food was secured in the canister.
He didn’t look aggressive. I stood up, waved my arms and yelled deeply from the gut for about 10 minutes before he moved back about 40 feet. He circled in a half arc maintaining a 40-80′ distance for another 20 minutes while I continued to yell and he finally wandered off.
I suppose that another backpacker panicked and left their food for the bear. Thus, this bear was trying to duplicate this behavior to get an easy meal.
Note: my yelling was not from the throat like the woman in the posted video. It was deep shouts from the gut. In classes at the gym I’m louder than the instructor with a mic.
Feb 15, 2024 at 2:18 pm #3803934In 44 years of camping I’ve had only two bear “attacks” on my tent—one a Thanksgiving night swipe and the other a chomp with 8 or 9 little tooth holes a couple years later. Maybe because my tent is blood red??
Oh then there’s the couple Thermarests I lost to bears—
Oh and then that one day with the Bear Vault—
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Forum Posting
A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!
Our Community Posts are Moderated
Backpacking Light community posts are moderated and here to foster helpful and positive discussions about lightweight backpacking. Please be mindful of our values and boundaries and review our Community Guidelines prior to posting.
Get the Newsletter
Gear Research & Discovery Tools
- Browse our curated Gear Shop
- See the latest Gear Deals and Sales
- Our Recommendations
- Search for Gear on Sale with the Gear Finder
- Used Gear Swap
- Member Gear Reviews and BPL Gear Review Articles
- Browse by Gear Type or Brand.