{"id":3502,"date":"2016-07-09T19:24:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-09T19:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cncadventures.com\/?p=3502"},"modified":"2017-01-26T03:47:49","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T03:47:49","slug":"bearly-made-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cncadventures.com\/?p=3502","title":{"rendered":"Bearly Made It Through the Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last night, we had barely settled in for the night when the thru hiker that camped near us yelled out <\/span> <\/span>\u201cBear coming through camp\u201d. I unzipped our vestibule and peeked out of the tent to see Mr. Bear strolling between our tents maybe 10-15 feet away. We started yelling \u201c get out of here\u201d but he didn\u2019t seem to care. The other hiker clanged his poles together and again there was no reaction other than me thinking that this bear has not read the book on what he is supposed to do around people. It was dusk and getting darker. The good news is that he did not show any interest in approaching our tents. He sauntered off into the woods about 150 feet or so away. We knew at that point that he was heading to where the family had hung their food.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sauntering Away<\/p><\/div>\n

I managed the courage to take a few pictures as he walked away from us. As darkness took over, we could hear the bear climbing up and down the tree and shaking branches. Finally, there was a loud crash of broken tree limbs and then silence. We all knew that the bear had been successful in his food retrieval efforts. We could only imagine the sight of the bear pushing his weight on the branch and falling down from 20 feet up. <\/span><\/p>\n

At any rate, the quiet of the night took over and after quite some time, I loosened my grip on my bear spray and dozed off. Sometime later in the night, I sprang to consciousness as the sounds of twigs and branches breaking nearby filled my ears. I saw the other hikers head light go on and scan the surrounding woods. I asked if he saw the bear and he said no, but he is definitely out there. I once again unlocked my bear spray, which quite frankly, is not as comforting as you would think, and listened intently. I could hear the bear moving and it seemed, to my now super charged hearing, that he was getting closer and moving in the direction of our tent. When I felt like he was maybe 15-20 feet away, I shouted at the top of my lungs,\u201d GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEAR\u201d, fully hoping that he knew I was referring to him. The footsteps started to move away from our tent. Carol turned to me and said \u201cI think he ran away\u201d to which I replied, \u201cHe did not run, he meandered\u201d but definitely moved away from us. Somehow, no bodily functions were excreted during this encounter, and my heart rate settled uneasily into a more normal rhythm. <\/span> <\/span>After more intent listening of the sounds of nature in the night, our exhaustion won out again and we managed to fall asleep. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dawn did not come fast enough but when it did, our eyes popped open and our ears went back into attempting to be as good as an owl. No sounds were heard, so I slowly unzipped the tent and peered out, now wishing I had carried some kind of bear radar detector. Everything seemed good but I was still not comfortable here. I told the girls that we should not open our food bags but rather we should pack up and get ready to leave. We could eat breakfast somewhere else, a mile or so down the trail. <\/span> <\/span>As we started to pack, the family emerged from their tent. The father said he was going to see if anything was left of their food and headed off in the direction of the food. When he got about 50 feet away he stopped and turned back telling us that the bear was still there. This firmed up our pack and leave theory and we continued to take down our camp. Keeping an eye on the area of woods where the bear was, I noticed movement and watch the bear cross the trail and head out of sight. I tell the family that the bear moved to the other side of the trail but I lost sight of him. As we continue to pack, the man takes his family over toward where the bear crossed and I see them stop and point. I think maybe he is tired of his kids and wife so he wants to tempt Mr. Bear with them as bait. <\/span><\/p>\n

We are just finishing up when I then notice him being even more stupid. He heads towards his food and then comes running towards us with a shredded food bag and morsels in his arms. I am thinking that the bear thinks that this is his food at this point and it is only a matter of time before he wants it back. Sure enough, I catch movement and the bear crosses the trail and luckily heads back to where the food was originally. I lose sight of him again but figure it is time for us to leave as he may follow the new scent of food towards us. The only problem is we have to walk the trail past where he now is. We hoist our packs and I ready the pepper spray once again. Walking deliberate but not fast is harder than it should be as the bear comes into view maybe 40 feet off the trail. As bears, can run about 40 feet per second, my can of pepper spray once again seems inadequate. Not looking directly at him and trying to maintain an attitude of we are not afraid and very uninterested in the bear, takes a great amount of focus. He doesn\u2019t seem concerned or interested in us, although he stares right at us as we walk past. It is very spooky as we increase the distance from him. It is probably another quarter mile before my adrenalin starts to decrease and my muscles relax. We seem to have survived our Night of the Unafraid Bear. <\/span><\/p>\n

We hike about 1.5 miles in a half hour and enter a burned area where we feel like it is finally safe to take out our food and have breakfast. I believe this area was burned in 2014, the year we did our first PCT adventure and it prevented hikers from completing California due to the fire. \"\"<\/a>While eating I reflect on our bear encounter and an observation comes to mind. Shannon, who, as we have been hiking along, seems to be able to converse for hours with Carol, was noticeably quiet during the night. Apparently, she carried a cone of silence for this very occasion and had ordered the special invisibility Big Agnes Tent. Not a peep, not a sound, no help yelling at the bear, no shuffling noise, no toss, no turn, no movement was detected from her throughout the night. <\/span><\/p>\n

Calming down, I notice how beautiful the day is and we have a nice view of Mt Lassen as we sit down to eat. Not having tequila to celebrate being alive, we settle for pop tarts and the usual breakfast fare. From here we hiked on until taking another break at the National Park Boundary, 7.4 miles from our camp. I for one am glad to be out of the park and back to where the bears are hunted and hopefully afraid of us. <\/span><\/p>\n

After our break, the terrain opens up a little and we can see forested hills ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hat Creek<\/p><\/div>\n

Due to our late breakfast, we hike 4.7 miles until we reach Hat Creek (at 1 P.M.) which is flowing strongly and is a great place to have lunch and relax. We have hiked at 3 MPH, a great pace for us, and it allows us to enjoy a longer than usual break. We get going again at 3 P.M. and hike mostly along fairly flat forested terrain. We then come upon a ridge to climb and when we reach the top, there is a nice view of Lassen and the country below us. There is also a good-looking spot to camp. The skies have been darkening while we hiked so this encourages us to settle in here for the night. As I scout around a little, I spook a quail with 9 babies. I always get a smile when I see wildlife with the exception of last night. There is no bear sign around and this is not an established camp site so I am feeling good about things. We get our tents set up and relax, eat, and relax some more. It is a beautiful spot. So far, the rain has stayed away and it is time for bed. We are camped at mile 1370 at an elevation of 4775 feet. Our hiking stats for the day is 15.35 miles at a 2.9 MPH pace and our high point was 6625 feet. Good night.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t