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  1. #1

    Default Black Bear Bites Camper in Harriman State Park NY

    A young camper in Harriman SP was bitten by a black bear during a midnight snack hunt....

    https://abc7ny.com/bear-attack-coope...ping/11885251/

  2. #2
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    from the article...

    "I made a mistake," Ayers said. "I left some of my food in my bag and spilled some on my leg and it was also other people that left a lot of trash around."

    glad he's ok
    NoDoz
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    I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind

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    That's a priceless image, perry!

  5. #5

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    Not I sit me down to eat
    a bag of GORP at my feet

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    I've slept with my food a few times and was considering doing it more with all the reports of stolen food bags and ursacks, and busted canisters. But this puts a big 'ol check in the "Cons" column.
    It is what it is.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LazyLightning View Post
    from the article...
    "I made a mistake," Ayers said. "I left some of my food in my bag and spilled some on my leg and it was also other people that left a lot of trash around."
    glad he's ok
    I'm also very glad he's ok and I'm impressed with the maturity of his response. I wish the adults who were leading this trip were a little better in terms of following up to confirm the boys had left a clean campsite. I once camped in PA not far from an AT shelter with a boy scout troop and while I appreciate getting young kids out into nature I was a little horrified with the boys bear "hang" of just placing it 15 feet from my tent on a tree limb that the boys were able to easily reach. I think I said hey if you are going to hang your food like that can you please move it away from my tent. They moved it away but a similar easy to reach "hang". I never noticed any adult check on their work and lucky for them their food was still there in the morning when I left.
    AT Flip Flop (HF to ME, HF to GA) Thru Hike 2023; LT End-to-Ender 2017; NH 48/48 2015-2021; 21 of 159usForests.com

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    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    I like that there giving the kid a special bear patch for his scout uniform, he kinda deserves it. And the he was honest about the food I like that.

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    Not surprised.

    That shelter, Tom Jones, and the one north of it, Bald Rocks, are very easily accessible and frequently used by scouts and other folks looking for an easy hike in so they can bring lots of food and beer but not LNT practices. They have food cables installed now at Bald Rocks but I don't know about Tom Jones. There are also cables at Fingerboard, Big Hill and Brien Memorial, and maybe some others.

    So people leave lots of trash but the bear is the problem. Got it.

    The kid handled it well. He seems very intelligent and articulate, so maybe it'll inspire him to learn more about bears and advocate for people cleaning up after themselves in the woods. Harriman has gotten a lot trashier since the start of the pandemic.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mouser999 View Post
    Not I sit me down to eat
    a bag of GORP at my feet
    "if I awaken late at night
    I pray it's not a black bear bite"

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    I think they might have cables up at Dutch Doctor shelter as well. Another easily-accessible trash magnet.

    This photo was taken near there last fall.

    Bear_02_small.jpg

  12. #12

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    and if i feel a cold wet nose
    I hope it's not nibbling on my toes

  13. #13

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    So,if bear cables are not available,where do you store your pack and day clothes?Asking for a friend......

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    Quote Originally Posted by Five Tango View Post
    So,if bear cables are not available,where do you store your pack and day clothes?Asking for a friend......
    The usual bear hang in a tree, using some cord.

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    I had seen that the shelter was temporarily closed, but i didn't realize that the bear had been captured. I wonder if it is open again, not that i would stay there- bear issues aside, it's way too close to the road.
    Thanks to the rise in "weekend campers" the past couple of years, all the shelters in Harriman have bear issues, with the possible exception of Stockbridge. I'll stick with stealth camping away from the shelters, and dealing with the weight/bulkiness of my Garcia bear canister.

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    Registered User scope's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mouser999 View Post
    Not I sit me down to eat
    a bag of GORP at my feet
    GORP - Good Ole Resting People
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

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    Quote Originally Posted by somers515 View Post
    I'm also very glad he's ok and I'm impressed with the maturity of his response. I wish the adults who were leading this trip were a little better in terms of following up to confirm the boys had left a clean campsite. I once camped in PA not far from an AT shelter with a boy scout troop and while I appreciate getting young kids out into nature I was a little horrified with the boys bear "hang" of just placing it 15 feet from my tent on a tree limb that the boys were able to easily reach. I think I said hey if you are going to hang your food like that can you please move it away from my tent. They moved it away but a similar easy to reach "hang". I never noticed any adult check on their work and lucky for them their food was still there in the morning when I left.
    Aside from he himself having some food that he shouldn't have, it sounds like the rest was due to trash left by others. While Scouts do (or should) try to clean up what others failed to do, they likely would have done so when preparing to leave (the next day) and not before going to bed (since they'd have no place to put it overnight anyway that would be a major improvement - it is hard enough to properly store your own supplies and such, without trying to do so for what others didn't take along).

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    I carry a canister primarily because I am too short to get my food down once I hang it the recommended height, especially using the PCT method. It may be heavier, but overall, it saves on aggravation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyGr View Post
    Aside from he himself having some food that he shouldn't have, it sounds like the rest was due to trash left by others. While Scouts do (or should) try to clean up what others failed to do, they likely would have done so when preparing to leave (the next day) and not before going to bed (since they'd have no place to put it overnight anyway that would be a major improvement - it is hard enough to properly store your own supplies and such, without trying to do so for what others didn't take along).
    All scouts and scout leaders are not created equal. A few years back they had one of those "Jamboree" type gatherings, where several troops meet up and camp together, at Croton Point Park in NY. They camped directly adjacent to a small radio control flying field where I used to fly, so this was my direct observation. They left the area quite trashed, and they had confiscated the picnic tables from our flying field and didn't even bother to return them. I think they moved them with a flatbed trailer, but we had to carry them 100-200 yards back to their original location.

    I'd like to think they're better disciplined and better led in other parts of the country but I am thoroughly unimpressed if this is their modus operandus today. Somebody from our club called to register our disgust, however I don't know if this led to any changes to their attitude and practices.

  20. #20

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    I was hiking in New York the week before last and a thru-hiker told me that an aggressive bear got close enough to him and others at Fingerboard Shelter that he bent up a hiking pole fighting it off. He was waiting at Graymoor for a couple who was there at Fingerboard to bring him a new set.

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