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Who has bear and critter stories?
The truth is that even seeing bears is a rare and memorable event, but some folks have had run-in with bears and they make for good stories. I have to warn you, though. Don't tell bear stories to your family or other families because it just might be the end of the camping trip and make it difficult for you to get your folks to go camping again.
To get things started, here is a real experience I had:
Some years ago while backpacking in the Smokey Mountains, I stayed at a park-built lean-to shelter. The shelter had three wood sides with the open side being covered by chainlink fence material and a door with a horse-shoe latch. It had a dirt floor and wooden bunks for I think six or eight campers.
Some local boys also came along and shared the same lean-to. In the morning, I had instant oatmeal, but the southern fellows were cooking up ham and bacon, and eggs and grits while laying in their sleeping bags inside the shelter - despite my suggestion that they cook outside on the picnic table.
The cooking soon attracted three large black bears that came into camp and wanted to get into the shelter and at the food. These were the biggest black bears I have ever seen - much bigger even than the zoo variety.
The biggest bear put it's enormous head against the simple pole and wire door and started to push and shake the whole chain link wall with a death-rattle clamor. We had to hold the door closed to keep the horse-shoe latch from flipping up and opening - all the while shouting and squeeling like a bunch of adolecent Girl Scouts.
Some of the fellows started screaming to throw the food out to the bears, but I frantically convinced them that if they did that, we would never get out alive.
Thankfully by the grace of God, the bears gave up and eventually left the camp - which was my que to skedaddle from the company of the rattled bacon frying southern boys and the iHop smelling lean-to shelter.
The truth is that even seeing bears is a rare and memorable event, but some folks have had run-in with bears and they make for good stories. I have to warn you, though. Don't tell bear stories to your family or other families because it just might be the end of the camping trip and make it difficult for you to get your folks to go camping again.
To get things started, here is a real experience I had:
Some years ago while backpacking in the Smokey Mountains, I stayed at a park-built lean-to shelter. The shelter had three wood sides with the open side being covered by chainlink fence material and a door with a horse-shoe latch. It had a dirt floor and wooden bunks for I think six or eight campers.
Some local boys also came along and shared the same lean-to. In the morning, I had instant oatmeal, but the southern fellows were cooking up ham and bacon, and eggs and grits while laying in their sleeping bags inside the shelter - despite my suggestion that they cook outside on the picnic table.
The cooking soon attracted three large black bears that came into camp and wanted to get into the shelter and at the food. These were the biggest black bears I have ever seen - much bigger even than the zoo variety.
The biggest bear put it's enormous head against the simple pole and wire door and started to push and shake the whole chain link wall with a death-rattle clamor. We had to hold the door closed to keep the horse-shoe latch from flipping up and opening - all the while shouting and squeeling like a bunch of adolecent Girl Scouts.
Some of the fellows started screaming to throw the food out to the bears, but I frantically convinced them that if they did that, we would never get out alive.
Thankfully by the grace of God, the bears gave up and eventually left the camp - which was my que to skedaddle from the company of the rattled bacon frying southern boys and the iHop smelling lean-to shelter.
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