invaded the NHL? it was always ours chief
invaded the NHL? it was always ours chief
The bright spot about griz in Canada is vegetation makes up the primary part of their diet. (Or salmon for the coastal brown bears). Contrast this to the Yellowstone ecosystem bears where red meat can be a substantial part of their diets. Bottom line is you are probably at less risk up north than around the Yellowstone ecosystem bears.
Around 2002 my backpacking friend and I made a foray into Robson and the Katwah. Incredible and immense country. More bear sign in the Katwah than you could shake a stick at, vegetation scat. The only folks around that country were a couple of friendly and helpful miners near the entrance and a couple of friendly and helpful bear researchers at a cabin back in the Katwah. The head researcher was a fellow by the name of White and his forte was identifying and studying bear movements by scat DNA versus the more invasive dart and radio collar methods used around these parts.
Yeah I'll give Canada Hockey domination cred. We do have our moments though, like the miracle on ice in 1980, and most recently, the Women's ice hockey final in Pyeongchang was indeed a thriller that could have gone either way. We do love our neighbors in the Great White North.
That makes me feel a little better. Do most Canadians pack bear spray or a firearm as defense from bears in those parts. I know Alaskan back packers pack firearms to deal with wild animals, but also most of those are hunters as well. I am just the casual hiker and prefer not to pack anything hotter than bear mace. YMMV.
Last year I did some camping with a friend that is former military and he had a pretty big shotgun with him. That is the first time I ever camped with someone packing a gun. You can pack it on Crown land (Public Land) but a lot of trails cross betweek various national parks and you can't be bringing them there so he was pretty much limited to car camping.
I have a can of bear spray, pretty expensive stuff considering I have had it for years, never used it and it's expired now. I've paid a price in carrying it around alone.
I recently got a set of bear bangers/Flares for this season. Much lighter and smaller and I really think it will be all I need if I even need to use them.
As for hockey. Kudos to the American girls gold medal win, I watched the game and they put in the effort and got the reward.
Dissappointing for sure in Canada but good hockey is good hockey no matter who wins!
Thanks for the advice. I think its far more hassle to schlep a firearm into Canada through border security than bear mace. To me a firearm is a liability for the kind of hiking I do, and I do my best to stay away from Grizz country. That being said, it would be an intense experience to camp among the wild animals in Canada with only mace though...Do you hang your food or use a bear vault?
That was a great hockey game, no matter who won. I do enjoy the NHL a bit more with the intensity they have. By the way, the NHL should be called the Canadian Premier League, as you Canadians dominate the league with total # of Canadians in the NHL, even though only 7 of the total NHL teams are in Canada. Coincidentally, Canadians lead the NHL in all stats combined..Very impressive. Much respect to Canadian hockey prowess for sure. USA has second best stats for most players in the NHL. Most of our players are semi Canadian anyways, as they live near the US/Canadian border, and many "U.S." players are here on Green cards from Russia, Sweden, etc. It has become a very international sport, but Canada is always at the top of the hockey stats, and always will be.
Last edited by Tyroler Holzhacker; 03-01-2018 at 14:44.
At some of the provincal Car Camping campgrounds there is are bear vaults sometimes provided and in the backcountry sites there are poles with pullys you can use to hang your food and trash.
If you are rough camping then bring the zing it and hang it PCT style where ever you can find a suitable spot. I'm flexible with all three methods depending on what is available.
When I camp, I see a lot of Squirrels, Those guys are everywhere and highly active and visible during the day. I typically have my dog with me which is a game changer.
She will let me know if ANYTHING is getting to close to camp so I sleep very well in the wild. If I was alone I imagine I would feel differently.
We do Hockey in Canada like you guys do baseball in the USA. Every kid plays street hockey growing up and most boys play ice hockey on a team at some point.
I like the no Pro rule at the olympics this year. The girls gold medal game was some of the best hockey I have seen in a while, and I'm in Edmonton... The oilers spent the year crapping all over the ice... Even with Connor McJesus on the team!!
I carry bear bangers and bear spray...neither of which airlines have been happy with when I have traveled. Never had to use the spray but my hand was on the holster when I had a bear paralleling me on the trail about 25 yards distant. I have used the bangers on two occasions and it did the job.
"Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice." Will Durant
I don't know what the current situation is, but when I would venture up to CA to partake of your beautiful back country I couldn't take my pepper spray across the border. But I could purchase it in CA. I finally got fed up with that sound and dance and smuggled my spray across the border. Oops, I meant to say I had a 'friend' who use to do that.
Even Keanu Reeves (Canadian with US green card) played goalie growing up in Canada. His nickname was "The Wall". BTW, he has a cool new motorbike company in LA called Arch Motorbikes. A bit out of my price range unfortunately as they start at $78k USD.
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