Monday, June 4, 2012

NJ bears

In New Jersey I've seen 2 bears. One in the middle of the trail from about 180 feet, that looked to be the largest bear I have seen yet. He was down the hill and when Beowulf and I saw him we stopped. He didn't notice us at first but after making a little noise and moving around a bit he did, but just looked at us from the trail for about a minute and I took the picture. I then said loudly enough for him to hear but not yelling "Mr. bear will you please get off the trail!?" He looked up, then meandered away. We camped soon after that and decided it would be a good idea to hang our food that night.
The next day I had just crossed a road and about a mile away was a steam. When I got there I filled up my bottles, got out my guide to see how much further I needed to go, set my pac next to a log I sat on, and began purifying my water. I heard some hikers coming up the trail towards me from the south and thought nothing of it. A moment later I thought I saw them to my right, and when I turned to look, instead I saw a 100lb black bear! He was eyeing my pac! When he saw that I noticed him and his cover was blown, he turned left and sort of hid behind a tree that was literally close enough to spit on (I did later just for a reference of how close he was). I said "HEY! What are you doing!?" he ran off about 20 yards then stopped and looked back. I yelled again "Go on, get!!" And he disappeared over a hill into the forest. That sneaky bear had just tried to Yogi my pac!! I can't imagine what he would have done if I hadn't seen him when I did. Off to New York today on my 3 month mark.


2 comments:

  1. You make me nervous hiker son! Love mom

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  2. Do you need a place to stop in western Massachusetts? My friend's brother (who is a bow hunter) lives 1/2 mile from the trail.

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