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Bears in the ADKs

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Heading out tomorrow morning to paddle the Whitney Wilderness Loop. ALSG's trip report to Little Tupper Lake prompted me to ponder the actual frequency of bear encounters there and generally in the ADKs outside of the High Peaks area. Am I being irresponsible to trip without bear spray?
 
“Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it”. May just be feeling more vulnerable with old age but…..
 
Keep a clean camp and you are not likely to have any major issues at all. During more than 50 years of camping (mostly solo) I have never felt the need for bear repellent spray in the Adirondacks. The only encounters I have had have been me seeing a bear running directly and quickly away. Always properly hang your food or use certified solid bear resistand canisters. Do not have any food or scraps in or around your sleeping area.
 
Doing all of the proper bear protocols is not a guarantee that you won't have a problem. That being said, statistically you should be fine even if you have an encounter, (which isn't all that rare) but you will be much happier having it with you. I've never had to use mine but I've had to be ready to more than once.
 
Agree with Al. I always have it with me, but never have used it or reached for it. My encounters in ADKs have been seeing them run away. That said, if they are used to feeding at your campsite, they will be persistent. I doubt you will see one where you are going- not a high use area.

Have a great time.

Bob
 
My last ADK bear encounter was in 1975 or so, hiking late one night in to the Deer Brook leanto from the Garden parking lot. At about 11:00 PM it suddenly appeared ahead of me in the trail. Headlamps were much weaker then, and the small area illuminated didn’t give me much time to react. I backed up… it ran off. I’m not sure which of us was more surprised (or frightened). I do understand that encounters have increased in the High Peaks area with increased human activity.

I do keep a clean camp, and scrupulously hang my food & toiletries well away from my site. Trouble is, I can’t be sure that previous campers have behaved themselves and thus habituated old Yogi bear to prospecting for food.

I suppose, as others have said, having the spray along would be wise.
 
You could call the Ranger for Whitney and see if they have any recent reports. Long after my incident I spoke to them and while they admitted to some problem bears, they were shocked a bear would approach a camp with a dog.
 
Spray and holster are expensive, but it may be a once in a lifetime purchase if you never need it. However, if you do need it, it will be priceless. I think it's cheap insurance and take it along on canoe trips in bear country, and otherwise permanently in my van. Not only for bears, but for zombies who might attack an old guy in a van anywhere.
 
As mentioned above, the biggest uncontrollable variable is the habits of previous campers at any particular campsiste. I rarely, if ever stay at designated sites, especcially when bushwhack remotely traveling solo, so I have little concern of encountering a campsite habituated bear where I camp in the Adirondacks. On the Yukon River race we saw many bears, including fresh recently made tracks in the random spots where we camped on a couple of occasions. The ladies on my voyageur team kept their spray can close and strung a rope with bells around their tent area.
 
I know they roam through Old Forge looking for garbage cans that have been left out and lots of times people wake up to a mess.
One year at the camp ground where we stayed for the 90 miler one came through. I consider them harmless unless you are between one of them and its cubs, or some food. If one comes into your camp site just beat on a pot or pan, and do a lot of yelling. if it keeps coming then you back off.
 
I plan on hitting the Whitney loop in about 3.5 weeks. This will be my third time and I've done smaller sections many times too. I have bear spray but haven't carried it since the original trip (BWCA) that I bought it for. I keep a clean camp and all food and sundries are kept in a blue barrel at the edge of camp and within eyesight. I don't prepare or set food on the lid and all the food is vacuum packed into individual meals. As far as I know nothing has ever disturbed it. The closest I am aware of is on Lake Lila (Campsite 17) I believe. I stayed there two nights and both mornings, there were bear tracks in the sandy beach walking parallel with the water's edge and 15' from my barrel but the tracks never altered their direction to make me think the bear ever looked at my barrel. I had my dog with me and we both slept through it.

Look forward to hearing about your trip Patrick.

Barry
 
My last ADK bear encounter was in 1975 or so, hiking late one night in to the Deer Brook leanto from the Garden parking lot. At about 11:00 PM it suddenly appeared ahead of me in the trail. Headlamps were much weaker then, and the small area illuminated didn’t give me much time to react. I backed up… it ran off. I’m not sure which of us was more surprised (or frightened). I do understand that encounters have increased in the High Peaks area with increased human activity.

I do keep a clean camp, and scrupulously hang my food & toiletries well away from my site. Trouble is, I can’t be sure that previous campers have behaved themselves and thus habituated old Yogi bear to prospecting for food.

I suppose, as others have said, having the spray along would be wise.
aah the 70's the years ( with decades prior too) of bad human behavior. We used to go to the Indian River Dump to watch the bears. We always had bears in campgrounds. In New Jersey we swore our bears knew days of the week. Come garbage night a squadron of them would make the neighborhood rounds.

Not sure what the bear hunt season in the ADK's is but every Maine bear is in hiding. Humans come with guns. For a few years since I did a regular fall trip to LTL and Round and Rock and never saw a bear. Spray doesn't take any room though.

Do train before hand.

Noting Patrick has left.. one of the highest concentrations of bears is in NW NJ and by the Delaware water gap... seems he lives in bear country.
 
I've never known anyone who has carried bear spray into the Adirondacks. I've had several encounters myself, and shouting or banging pans always drives them away...
You do now. And I was glad I had it with me during my standoff at Little Tupper even if I didn't have to deploy it against the bear.
 
The main reason I don't carry it is because
1. every bear I see is running away from me,
2. I only see about one bear every two years because I always have my dog with me,
3. As YC notes, train with the canister...I don't know how bad bear spray is compared to CS gas used for military training, but I would rather jump up and down and yell at a bear then take the chance of getting that spray on my face, in my eyes, or on my dog.

I once got bluff charged while hiking on a trail here at home and yelling did the trick. The bear had cubs further down off the trail which she scooted off after. They are pretty intimidating when they aren't running AWAY from you. Not sure I would be cognizant of wind or other factors when I decided I needed to deploy the spray. Or accidentally spray it towards my tent or coat some gear with it because of the orientation of me and the bear.

Whether you carry it or not, keep a clean camp and stay safe out there. And please don't run from that bear...I've seen how fast they are and you won't make it!

Barry
 
I estimate that Kathleen and I have seen, on the ground, while backpacking and then canoeing, approximately 200 black bears and forty grizzly bears. All but two departed when they saw us. We carry bear spray, bear bangers, and a .308 rifle. I have never used the bear spray, and would never use the rifle unless being directly charged at close range.

Both of the two black bears that didn’t leave strolled into our camp, and were within 20 feet of us, and still coming. The bear banger sent them off, but not in panic mode. One of these instances we were camped in an area that was about half-mile away from a recently-used fire suppression camp. Our camp was clean. The second instance was when we were camped at a very nice spot periodically used by a mining exploration company on Great Slave Lake. The camp was clean, but the bear likely knew from experience that food might be available.

Before that Great Slave Lake trip, I tested my bear bangers, and they didn’t fire. An internet search revealed that the firing pins deteriorate, and usually don’t work after about 20 years. Similarly, the propellant in bear spray deteriorates, and canisters generally contain a stamp indicating shelf life, usually only 3-4 years.

Most of our wilderness tripping has been 3-6 weeks in the Northwest Territories or Yukon, usually beginning by float plane. Most of the outfitters have commented on my rifle, generally saying something like “Glad to see you have a rifle. A lot of people think that if you don’t bother the bear, the bear won’t bother you. It just ain’t so.”

Indeed, I commonly read or hear about people who have been harassed, injured or killed every year by bears, even though they weren’t knowingly threatening the bear. According to bear expert Stephen Herero, Grizzly attacks are usually sudden encounters, while hungry black bears are known to stalk people. Doesn’t hurt to be prepared, Spray and bangers are small and easy to take. I once tested my bear spray. It does not shoot very far at all. One has to keep it at the ready!
 
Still about bear defences, but this time on Hudson Bay, north of Churchill. In 1997, Kathleen and I paddled the Seal River in Northern Manitoba, down to Hudson Bay.

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We spent our first night near the mouth of the Seal River in this small cabin where canoeists are usually picked up to be taken by barge to Churchill. The cabin was built to provide safety from Polar Bears. This one casually strolled by as we were enjoying morning tea down by the water.

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But we paddled 6 km (4 miles north) to the Seal River Lodge, as encouraged by the owner, who promised to fly us to Churchill. But when we arrived, the lodge had not opened up, so we moved inside the fence. Only problem was that we had to walk about one km (0.5 miles) to the nearest fresh water. You can see the lodge in the far background on the right.



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Every time, over four days, we were followed by at least one Polar Bear.

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Bear thinking about getting us by going over the fence.

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Maybe under the fence is easer.

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If the bear gained entry, my plan was to climb up the stairs to the lookout platform. If he came up, we felt confident with the bear spray and the .308. Perhaps foolishly confident.

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But the bear finally grew bored with the game, and wandered off into the ebbing tide.
 
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I’ve been visiting the ADK’s since the ‘60’s, saw lots of black bears at the various town dumps and assorted state campgrounds.
I have seen bears in the wild only twice ever,
With that said, I generally avoid camping in spots known to have easy access and sloppy campers. I do not visit the high peaks, they were too busy for me back in the 80’s

if you feel more secure with pepper spray, by all means bring it, it’s not that heavy or bulky.
 
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