Black bear causing concerns in Pemi around Owl's Head

[JToll]

I have been actively hiking for 12 years and until this year have only seen one bear. I have seen 4 this year, all in the Northern Presidential area.

 

[skiguy]

Those bear Vaults are really a pain in in the arse to pack.

 

[peakbagger]

It would be tough to close off the area, there are to many ways to get in there. A male bear can roam 15 miles daily, that's a lot of ground to close.

The bears in the pemi back in the late eighties would raid a different campsite every night. Generally if the bears hit Desolation shelter they would hit the Thoreau Falls area the next night and Franconia Falls the night after before returning to Desolation. The bears would run out of the woods and into the Desolation shelter and grab packs and food bags then drag the booty out into the woods to be eaten. The Thirteen Falls area of late was reported to be visited every night. Black bear issues generally can be managed with a combination of food storage and occasional removal of problem bears. Bears work on risk reward. There is plenty of reward and almost no risk with hikers and campers. I believe that the only entity that actually has the right to kill a bear out of season in NH is NHF&G. NHF&G is short staffed and typically truck based, they have to ration their resources and unless there is an actual hiker attack, it is probably difficult to justify an all day hike into Lincoln Woods to scare off a bear. Generally shooting a bear is a last resort.

I guess its time for a couple of Karelian Bear Dogs to shift the risk reward ratio.

 

[JustJoe]

The only reason bears, for the most part, associate humans with food is through the humans stupidity. It most definitely is a shame the bear has to pay the ultimate price for this. And because of the origins of this post, it seems stupidity has run rampant. This leaving packs behind is just insane, especially if it's being done on a regular basis at the bottom of Owls Head Slide. Which apparently is a thing if they've had to put up a sign. You are about a mile, and 1500' away from your pack at the summit. Not only does that give bears all the time in the world to have a Yogi Bear type picnic, it leaves you without (what I would hope have with you to survive the night that deep in the wilderness) should something unexpected happen while you were up there.

I seriously doubt bears deep in the Pemi are garbage eaters. They have learned people=food from hikers and backpackers. So yeah, we invade their territory. Feed them either on purpose, through carelessness, or shear stupidity. And for that, they get to die.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Those bear Vaults are really a pain in in the arse to pack.

An Ursack isn't.

 

[richard]

This discussion has caused me to rethink my feelings about leaving my backpack at the bottom of some steep sections. I’ll only leave it at some of the huts( lake of clouds, Madison springs, etc.) where I won’t have to worry. At least for this time, I didn’t have to learn the hard way.

 

[Hachi]

The only reason bears, for the most part, associate humans with food is through the humans stupidity. It most definitely is a shame the bear has to pay the ultimate price for this. And because of the origins of this post, it seems stupidity has run rampant. This leaving packs behind is just insane, especially if it's being done on a regular basis at the bottom of Owls Head Slide. Which apparently is a thing if they've had to put up a sign. You are about a mile, and 1500' away from your pack at the summit. Not only does that give bears all the time in the world to have a Yogi Bear type picnic, it leaves you without (what I would hope have with you to survive the night that deep in the wilderness) should something unexpected happen while you were up there.

I seriously doubt bears deep in the Pemi are garbage eaters. They have learned people=food from hikers and backpackers. So yeah, we invade their territory. Feed them either on purpose, through carelessness, or shear stupidity. And for that, they get to die.

In hindsight, it was a stupid thing to do, but somehow I reasoned out that I had my essentials with me, there was no food in my pack that I left and what was in the pack was stuff I could live without, so the risk was minimal to me. What I didn't consider was the risk to the bear and to other hikers in my ignorance. I suppose that was why I posted here to begin with. It's a new record to for me, to be stupid, ignorant and insane all in my first post! Glad I got that out of the way quickly!

Oh, and I almost forgot, the only reason I was climbing that peak was because it was one of the few 4K's I hadn't climbed yet. Yeah, so there's that.

 

[Peakbagr]

'Yellow - Yellow' was the nickname for an ADK bear, the name coming from the two times the bear was captured and relocated due to aggressive approaches to campers. Would walk right into a leanto and scatter the occupants to get at food and packs. Eventually had to be killed. I don't remember if this was the bear that taught a couple of litters of cubs how to open a certain type of bear canister that is now no longer allowed in the ADKs.

 

[Grey J]

This discussion has caused me to rethink my feelings about leaving my backpack at the bottom of some steep sections. I’ll only leave it at some of the huts( lake of clouds, Madison springs, etc.) where I won’t have to worry. At least for this time, I didn’t have to learn the hard way.

Now that you mention it, I seem to remember once leaving my pack behind at Lakes Hut about 35 years ago while we scampered up Monroe to bag it. It was my introduction to the 48 and the whole concept of peakbagging the list. It was waiting for me right where I left it, but I can't recall ever leaving it behind again.

 

[David Metsky]

Eventually had to be killed.

Yellow-yellow was killed by a hunter, legally. The state never relocated her or her cubs.

https://rootsrated.com/stories/the-legend-of-yellow-yellow-new-york-s-most-infamous-bear

 

[NHClimber]

i never leave my pack anywhere, including the times I've been to OH. Maybe I just have a light pack (not true really). Problem with black bears is that although they are rarely predatory of humans, if they do decide to attack you are finished. They rarely walk away once they attack. So you will not be healing and heading back out again. There is plenty of reading on this if you are interested in bear attacks.

 

[Sanbu]

Time to start carrying bear spray into the Pemi. Let 'em get a whiff of capsaicin. It has proved a healthy deterrent in places like Yellowstone. Once they get a sniff of the stuff, the bears back off next time they see a can in hand (hopefully).

I carried bear spray when I did Owl's Head. Unfortunately, I stowed it in a pocket and it fell out on the bushwhack from Black Pond. I expect somebody got a free can from my misfortune.

I always carry bear spray in New England. But that's after living in Wyoming and reading way too many news reports of bear encounters, injuries and deaths. But even with bear spray, I stopped solo backpacking in the Wind River Range ten years ago. The grizzlies expanded their range south out of Yellowstone, were fruitful and multiplied.

 

[egilbe]

The bear at owlshead must be fairly recent. We took our packs up after dropping our tent and sleeping bag. We camped at the base of the slide, no issues with bears or mice. This was early August, I think.

 

[David Metsky]

The bear at owlshead must be fairly recent. We took our packs up after dropping our tent and sleeping bag. We camped at the base of the slide, no issues with bears or mice. This was early August, I think.

This has been going on at least since last year.

 

[iAmKrzys]

I carried bear spray when I did Owl's Head. Unfortunately, I stowed it in a pocket and it fell out on the bushwhack from Black Pond. I expect somebody got a free can from my misfortune.

This story reminds me of a geocache log entry I read some time ago for a cache placed on Bartlett Haystack - according to the log the geocacher's companion lost a more potent weapon that he was carrying for protection against bears! Here is a quote:

"T first visited Bartlett Haystack on September 30, 1975, when working on climbing all the 3000' foot peaks of New England. I bushwhacked over from Tremont with another hiker and his dog Chinook who had signed up for this adventure. I was an AMC hike leader at the time. In 1975 there was no summit register; however, I did place a small bottle register at the top which of course is no longer there after 38 years. We enjoyed the view from the high rocky ledge on the west side. An interesting note on this trip is the loss of the pistol this hiker had brought with him without my knowledge. He said he had brought it for protection against bears!! Needless to say we did not look for it. So somewhere between Tremont & Bartlett Haystack there lies the gun."

Full log entry can be found here: https://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=fd86fcf5-9e5c-411e-931e-569f5196be59

 

[Salty]

This story reminds me of a geocache log entry I read some time ago for a cache placed on Bartlett Haystack - according to the log the geocacher's companion lost a more potent weapon that he was carrying for protection against bears! Here is a quote:

"T first visited Bartlett Haystack on September 30, 1975, when working on climbing all the 3000' foot peaks of New England...."

Full log entry can be found here: https://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=fd86fcf5-9e5c-411e-931e-569f5196be59

Thanks for the link, that would definitely be Tom Sawyer!

 

[B the Hiker]

It really sucks that the bears ultimately pay the price for the stupidity of humans. I'd rather see them ban hiking in the area, increase enforcement of regulations, etc in the area versus killing the bears. But that would disrupt the precious 4k peak bagging process.

Thank you for this wisdom! It is interesting how humans frame this as a "bear problem" when we are the cause.

Brian