IIRC there's a bear or two raising a little hell around Walnut Mountain, close to Max Patch. Anyone know if that animal is still causing drama?
IIRC there's a bear or two raising a little hell around Walnut Mountain, close to Max Patch. Anyone know if that animal is still causing drama?
Me no care, me here free beer. Tap keg, please?
Only time I've ever had issue with a Black Bear is when one came into camp and went right for the Yukon Jack. Chugged it on the spot and was gone. All inside of 10 seconds. Couldn't stop laughing.
A bear cannot get your food if you use the PCT Method and choose a good branch:
- the branch should extend out far from the tree, preferably not level, a slight incline (will bend less under stress)
- branch needs to be strong enough to resist a bear ripping it off the tree, weak enough not to support a bear's weight
- you want a branch that is atleast 12-13 feet high because with the PCT Method the food bag sits at HALF the distance between the limb height and the stick location on the line...meaning if you tie the stick at 6 feet on a 12 foot branch, the bag hangs at 9 feet, and remember the bag 'hangs' from the 9ft mark, so if the bag is 18 inches long, the bottom of the bag will be 7.5 feet off the ground
A bad hang would be using the tie off method, where the bear can find the cord being tied off and cut it. The tie-off method works best on a steep hillside, walk down hill, find a good branch, then run the cord as high up the hillside as possible, so when the bear looks for the cord, it's tied off well away and run nearly level from the branch to a limb up higher on the hill...but seriously, the PCT Method is super easy, just confusing until you see it. Someone posted a link on here for a youtube video
Forgot...a bad branch is one a bear can walk on, or very flimsy so a bear can tear it off, or too close to the tree and the bear can reach the food bag from the main trunk, etc...
Maybe a proper PCT hang will still work in GA, but in other places it won't. I think they are trained to defeat the PCT and counterbalance methods by sending a cub out on a branch and dive bombing the bag or chewing through or breaking the branch. Bears in parts of the Sierras have learned how to get the food from proper PCT hang.Originally Posted by Dances with Mice
"I haven't personally lost food using the PCT method... mostly because I use a canister :-) I have been with or near groups that lost food using the PCT method. The combination of strong jaws and acrobatic cubs can defeat any hanging method if the bears are sufficiently motivated and given enough time. That means being alert enough to know the bears are around and then getting up to defend your food and drive the bears away. Sometimes though, even noise and thrown rocks will not deter a bear. In these cases, the bear will eat your hung food."
Mark Verber, http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...180785&print=1
In the Adirondacks I'm not sure if the bears learned to defeat the PCT method, but the the state decided that bears were getting hung food so often that there were too many aggressive bear-human interactions. Canisters are now required in parts of the ADK.
Sounds like we just need to bite the bullet and start living with a bear canister then...
...take nothing but memories and pictures, leave nothing but footprints, and kill only time... (Bette Filley in Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail)
Seems to me one could simply avoid Blood Mountain by hiking past the "bear canister" area even if it means hiking after dark ?
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
I think bears in Georgia are a long ways off defeating the PCT method, but yes...in theory a cub might be able to be sent out and chew through the branch.
Amazing creatures they are!
I was at the Blood Mountain shelter in 2010 and the shelter register had one of my favorite register entries "there is definitely a douchebag bear hanging around this shelter". Maybe I'm not remembering it right, but it seemed there was rhododendron bushes, and exposed rock, but no trees.
So all these posts about the PCT hang seems pointless in an area with no trees.
The scary thing was that when I got there, a Boy Scout troop was just arriving and was planning to spend the night. I kept going, but I don't know what the troop leaders were going to do with their big group. Seems like a camping ban on Blood Mountain would be the best solution.
If you don.t want to spend the money for the bear canister then you should just hike this section and keep going. It has been a problem for a couple of years now and is getting worse. Unfortunately people are sloppy at camp and the bears are now use to free human food.
If they are this bold now they want stop at ripping a tent open and getting what they want. I have seen one go in a car after a cooler and the bear won.
....what does this say about our society when the bear is smarter than most humans?..LOLOLOL. Common sense used to be a natural ability that could be made stronger with wisdom and experience....seems like that has all gone out the window since " I shoot my gun sideway!" LOLOL....come on people...YOU CAN'T REALLY BE THIS STUPID!
geek
I hiked that area in 2010 and never had a problem - just make sure that you're well hung.
What's that gotta do with bears ? lol