Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 33
  1. #11
    Senior Member Twistytee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    North Carolina
    Hammock
    SLD Trail Lair
    Tarp
    Thunderfly
    Insulation
    JRB Greylock 3
    Suspension
    UCR/Spider Straps
    Posts
    372
    GSMNP has gone to great lengths to install cables at the registered campsites so people don’t have to rely on traditional bear bag methods or canisters. While there’s no mention of improper food storage in the article, some of the National Parks like Yellowstone go so far as to recommend not sleeping in the clothes you cooked in. Who knows what happened here, but she could have had food scent on her clothes/pack/hammock. An incident like this is one reason they don’t typically permit hammocks/tents outside of the shelters. I have a feeling tighter restrictions will be coming shortly.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Hammock
    DIY GE 12’ Hexon 1.6
    Tarp
    SLD Winter Haven
    Insulation
    CDT Gemini DIY
    Suspension
    Whoopi slings
    Posts
    109
    Images
    11
    Pisgah NF has also ended camping along the AT, at least for a while. I hope this is an unusual year and not the new normal for these areas.

    https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nfsnc...d=FSEPRD921040

  3. #13
    Senior Member jb_outdoors's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Hammock
    Warbonnet Eldorado
    Tarp
    Warbonnet Minifly
    Insulation
    JRB + EETQ
    Suspension
    Beckett Hitch
    Posts
    104
    It sounds like this family was doing everything they should have done but nonetheless suffered from the carelessness of others. The Smokies were an amusement park before the pandemic, and Covid has made it a hundred times worse. I live only an hour away but I avoid the area like the plague because it has become a literal zoo, which is a shame because there are so many beautiful things to see and do there. It's just more motivation to build my skills and stick to the much less beaten paths.
    -- Josh

    "Courage, mon ami! Le Diable est mort!"

  4. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Greensburg, IN
    Posts
    545
    It'd be my guess, being a 16yr old girl, she most likely wasn't really following guidelines. Its not just food that can cause problems, perfumes, chapsticks (especially cherry!) is one of the biggest no nos.

    I'm astonished the bears in the tourist-infested areas of the Smokies show the restraint that they do, what with most visitors being as ignorant as they are.

  5. #15
    New Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Greenville SC
    Hammock
    Blackbird XLC
    Tarp
    Hammock Gear DCF
    Insulation
    EE Revelation Apex
    Suspension
    Whoopie
    Posts
    16
    I was hanging in the cosby campground this weekend. Always good to remember that you can do everything right and still face danger. Sad for the bears.

  6. #16
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    IN
    Hammock
    DIY 10.5' HyperD 1.6
    Tarp
    Warbonnet, SLD
    Insulation
    Hammock Gear
    Suspension
    WB Straps+Buckles
    Posts
    13,158
    Images
    20
    Quote Originally Posted by binfordw View Post
    Its not just food that can cause problems, perfumes, chapsticks (especially cherry!) is one of the biggest no nos.
    That's what I was thinking. The blue chap stick, sort of a vanilla? Sometimes I just wanna take a bite myself.

  7. #17
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Ossining, NY
    Hammock
    DH Darien, SLD Tree Runner
    Tarp
    HG hex
    Insulation
    Timmermade, Revolt
    Suspension
    Kevlar, Lapp Hitch
    Posts
    4,912
    Images
    356
    For the solar eclipse in Aug '17, I camped at Bob Stratton Bald in NC. I hiked up from the Joyce Kilmer parking lot, but there is also a very easy approach from the Cherohala Skyway, and a lot of people — 342, according to a NFS guy doing a head count — had the same idea. Many of them dragged in huge amounts of gear and food for safari-style glamping luxury.

    At one camp a stone's throw away from mine, there were two couples who had giant cabin tents and were cooking all manner of meat and other tasty stuff. One morning I watched one of them pour out bacon grease in the brush near their camp. So figured if there were any bears they wouldn't be messing with me.

    But the bears must have been deterred by the outrageous ruckus on that hill because AFAIK there wasn't a single bear incident.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  8. #18
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Ossining, NY
    Hammock
    DH Darien, SLD Tree Runner
    Tarp
    HG hex
    Insulation
    Timmermade, Revolt
    Suspension
    Kevlar, Lapp Hitch
    Posts
    4,912
    Images
    356
    Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post
    That's what I was thinking. The blue chap stick, sort of a vanilla? Sometimes I just wanna take a bite myself.
    If I were in brown bear country I'd definitely be mindful of this. As it is, I have chapstick and Tums in my pack's hip pocket and also a tiny toothpaste container in my ditty bag, neither of which I hang but keep in my pack.

    And I must confess that, as Erric mentioned in another thread, I frequently do not hang food, especially for a quick local overnighter where I have maybe 6oz of food consisting of a little leftover day food and the following morning's breakfast.

    Maybe I'm like the parachute-less "so far, so good" skydiver.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  9. #19
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    IN
    Hammock
    DIY 10.5' HyperD 1.6
    Tarp
    Warbonnet, SLD
    Insulation
    Hammock Gear
    Suspension
    WB Straps+Buckles
    Posts
    13,158
    Images
    20
    I sleep with food sometimes too. Just depends on when, where, etc.

    They say die doing something fun. Does that mean the actual wrestling match with a bear needs to be fun? Or just the overall trip?

  10. #20
    Senior Member Ldog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Hammock
    DutchWare Half-Zipped (Hexon 1.0)
    Tarp
    HammockGear CF Hex
    Insulation
    HG UQs and TQs
    Suspension
    Huggers w/Whoopies
    Posts
    112
    Images
    2
    I hiked the AT in sections over four years. I had easily a dozen or more bear encounters. In every.single.case, they took one look at me and bolted thru the woods to get away from me. Except one. In the GSMP.

    Friends picked me up at a trail crossing along the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a parking area popular with day hikers, and took me to their campsite to feed me while we caught up. Once they assured I was stuffed, they took me back to the trail crossing. I walked 500 yards up the trail, heard some noise in the woods ahead of me. The trail opened to a 25 diameter clearing off the trail, and there was a fairly large black bear rooting in the dirt for bugs. It looked up at me, snorted and went back to grazing. Not the "normal" response I'm used to. I walked past it, turned so that I was backing away. It snorted, and the hair on it's neck stood up. I raised my poles up to make myself look big, spoke to it in a soothing voice, and backed away slowly till I was a goodly distance away. I reported it to a trail-runner I met up the trail.

    Bears that have become habituated to humans in areas like the GSMNP are a danger to themselves and us. And the places they get that way are in the big, popular parks, close to trail crossings, where day-hikers tread. I never camp within range of day-hikers and overnighters for all kinds of reasons, and the number of bear problems we read about lately seems to bear that out.
    L.Dog
    AT 2000 Miler/ 1752 Hangin' Miles
    Pictures
    Blog
    Pack List

  • + New Posts
  • Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. More Black Bear Attacks
      By nogods in forum General Hammock Talk
      Replies: 52
      Last Post: 10-22-2007, 17:25

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •