Finally! After 30 years of hiking...........

[Tinker]

I saw my first BEAR on the trail (not the AT, but a side trail).
Of course it was in New Jersey, and it was in someone's back yard trying to get into something that looked like an old refrigerator. I took a couple of pictures, but at something like 30 yards at dusk it just looks like a black ball next to something that looks sorta like a kitchen appliance.
Actually, the night before I saw a pair of eyes near the bear box at the shelter where I hammocked which probably belonged to a bear. I was just out watering the foliage, looking around with my headlamp, and there he (she?) was, staring at me. When a dog barked down in the valley I saw the eyes turn briefly, then continue their stare down with me. When I was finished I quietly returned to my hammock and back to a deep sleep.
Unfortunately for me it was more of a "Well finally!" moment than anything else. I guess I've just gotten used to the fact that they're out there, seen or unseen.

[Shutterbug]

I saw my first BEAR on the trail (not the AT, but a side trail).
Of course it was in New Jersey, and it was in someone's back yard trying to get into something that looked like an old refrigerator. I took a couple of pictures, but at something like 30 yards at dusk it just looks like a black ball next to something that looks sorta like a kitchen appliance.
Actually, the night before I saw a pair of eyes near the bear box at the shelter where I hammocked which probably belonged to a bear. I was just out watering the foliage, looking around with my headlamp, and there he (she?) was, staring at me. When a dog barked down in the valley I saw the eyes turn briefly, then continue their stare down with me. When I was finished I quietly returned to my hammock and back to a deep sleep.
Unfortunately for me it was more of a "Well finally!" moment than anything else. I guess I've just gotten used to the fact that they're out there, seen or unseen.

I will never forget the first bear I saw in the wild. It was on the Wonderland Trail. Other hikers had warned me that a bear had been seen on the trail, so I had my camera in my hand. I was excited about the possibility of getting a good photo. I rounded the corner and there she was, right in the middle of the trail. She was less than 20 yards from me. She stood up on her hind legs and stared at me. It was the best possible pose for a photo. Then, she abruptly turned and ran into the woods. As I listened to the crashing of brush as she ran away, I looked down. Sure enough, the camera was still in my hand. I had been so excited that I forgot to take the picture.

[Hikes in Rain]

Mine was a mile or so short of Woods Hole Shelter, back in 2000. All I saw was his rear end as he hightailed it out of the vicinity. I'm guessing he heard my pack squeaking, or my big feet tromping, or more likely, my huffing and puffing, and didn't want anything to do with me. A bear in Georgia was the last thing I was expecting to see, and I was so shocked all I could do was stand there and stare with my mouth hanging open. After a while, I wiped my chin and moved on.

[Pringles]

Congratulations!!!

Over the years I've taken lots of pictures of "black balls," brown smudges, fuzzy things and blackish-brown specks. I guess it's sort of a specialty. I've finally stopped reaching for the camera when a bear or wolf shows up, and just enjoyed the show. At this point, I can just pull out one of the old pictures and show that... one smudge looks a lot like another smudge.

I hope you see many more bears!

Beth

[bullseye]

Congrads Tinker! I saw my 1st bear last June after 21 years of backpacking. Just like you, it was more of a finally moment, especially after some near misses. I missed one on the trail up Katahdin by just a minute or so (the hiker ahead of me Hey Bear'd it off the trail right before I turned the corner. Funny thing is he thought it was another hairy thru hiker until he caught up!). I had one sniff around my tent at Wawayanda park, just as I was dozing off.

Next on my list is a moose.

[Manwich]

You weren't in NJ. You were in Bear Country. Bear Country isn't even the Contiguous United States. It's a land of their own.

[jersey joe]

There are a TON of bears in NJ which causes annual chatter about having another bear hunt.

[Ox97GaMe]

I know the feeling. I had been hiking for 15 years and almost 13,000 miles before I saw my first bear in the backcountry this past July. Since then, I have seen about a dozen. All were in the Smoky Mountain National Park. Actually had one hang around for about 2 hrs last week while we were doing trail maintenance. He just sat about 100 yrds down the hill fattening up on nuts and roots while we worked. It was pretty cool, but a bit nerving. We kept looking in his direction every few minutes just to be sure he wasnt planning to come get a closer look at what we were doing.

[Doooglas]

Bears and UFO's are the hardest things to photo.

[fredmugs]

I saw my first bear hiking SOBO thru the Shenandoah's. I had read several posts about how you pretty much cannot go through the park and NOT see a bear. I spent the first night at Gravel Springs Hut and took off around 0700. About 30 minutes into my hike there was a bear about 30 feet up on the top of a tree.

Now I heard that the bears in SNP will run away from you and that bears will climb up a tree to get away. I get maybe 50 yards from the tree and this sucker hauls down the tree in about 2 seconds and then stands there staring at me. So I stop and stare at the bear which I'm sure was only a couple of seconds but seemed a lot longer.

The bear takes like 3 steps away from me, stops, and keeps staring. I take a few steps and stop as well. The bear does this again so I tell myself that the bear is allowing me to pass but still maintaining it's territory so I just hike right on past the bear and didn't have any problems at all. The other 4 bears I saw during that trip were all running for their lives.

Of course this was one of the few trips I did not bring a camera. D'Oh.

[Lazarus]

I guess I was pretty fortunate-- my 1st bear was in my second section, at Mollies Ridge shelter in the Smokies. I got there at dusk, & I went down to the spring. When I got there the bear was about 10 feet from me, across the stream. After she stood up & hissed at me, I figures that she probably had dibs on the water, & I backed up the hill to the shelter.

[DirtBagger]

Over the years I've taken lots of pictures of "black balls," brown smudges, fuzzy things
Beth

I'll remind you -- this is a hiking forum!


Had to.

[johnnybgood]

Come to Virginia & SNP , You will see a bear(s) while hiking every year.
I even saw one on the rainiest day of my hike in May.
The tree branch he was sitting on broke and he came tumbling down to the forest floor about 50 ft from me.

Talk about surprised....