Bears in Winter?

[sherpakid]

Sorry if this is a topic that has already been discussed. I've been away from the East Coast and finally moved back and will be taking my first, LONG AWAITED, hike up Algonquin since I've been back. How sweet it will be after being in the flat interior!

I was wondering what the bear activity was like in the winter now. I assume that bear activity in the ADK hasn't changed much over 4 years. I know that they are bad by Marcy Dam and sometimes around Colden Lake, but are they active in the winter? Will we need to take precautions with food in the winter like one would in the spring?

Thanks,
sherpakid

 

[MattC]

As you probably already know, black bears in the northeast are not true hibernators, and do sometimes get up in the winter for a little while. However, the odds of one raiding your food in winter are significantly less than in summer. The DEC bear canister regulation for the eastern high peaks is only in effect from April (1st I believe) until Nov. 30. So canisters are not required this time of year. I would think smaller critters such as mice and martens would be a bigger food concern, so it might be wise to at least hang a bag against them.

Welcome back to the east. You could do a lot worse than climbing Algonquin in terms of getting reacquainted. Have a fun, food-raid free trip.

Matt

 

[Chip]

ditto what Matt said. I, personally, have never seen a bear in the dacks in winter, but I have had my lean-to raided by a hungry pine marten.

 

[sherpakid]

Thanks for the info. That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. I know that Colden Lake has, or at least used to have, a lot of bear activity. We were planning on staying there for one night - now I know how to handle our food.

Thanks,
nigel