Bear Country Camping: Tales & Tips

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Jan 16, 1998

"Don't say anything," I whispered to the wife as we sat by the campfire, "but there's a bear behind you!" I have no idea why I used those particular words, but it was true! We had just finished dinner, the trash still in a bag at the picnic table, and the bear-proof food locker wide open. After a short respite by the fire, with our dogs on our laps, I planned to stow our foodstuff and take out the trash. It was a bit too late.

There are more bears today in North America than there have been for many years. Protected, as they well should be, bears are plentiful in and near many parks and recreation areas. It is wise to follow all posted rules and warnings in these areas - for your sake and the bears. We had not, and got a scare as our reward. My wife Pam did say something; In fact, she became very verbose while she clapped her folding lawn chair in an attempt to frighten the bear away. Well, it didn't work. After standing upright and hissing angrily at the poor pooches, he helped himself to our hotdog buns and dry cereal. (Pam ran between our barking poodle and the growling bear, unhooked the dog's leash and rescued him while I hid behind our car-crazy girl!) The bear left us only to return to check out our foodless coolers before wandering off for good. This close encounter happened right in the middle of a busy national park campground. You don't have to be camped in an isolated spot to have bear troubles. Bear learn quickly that where there are humans, there is food.

Over the past few years, we have had a number of bear contacts. All these occurred in public access or camping areas. My sister says that bear are back in Eastern Kentucky. We personally saw bears in Jasper National Park, Canada, Yellowstone National Park, Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park, and most recently in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Calif.

On our first visit to Calaveras State Park, we were amazed at the lack of bear warnings and bear-resistant campground facilities, but we saw no bears. Calaveras is located in the magnificent Stanislaus National Forest which is southeast of Sacramento, California. "There must be bears in this area," I suggested to my wife on our latest camping visit there. Well, that evening it started. Just after sundown each day, a hungry bear raided our campground. You could determine its location from the sound of garbage cans being turned over. It ran through our campsite one evening and danced around a neighbor's RV while they took pictures (through their windows of course). Despite numerous heroic attempts by Park Rangers to trap or scare it off, that bear was not deterred. We even crossed its path one evening while on a stroll with our beagles. The bear ran one way and we went the other. I hope they have bear-proofed the campground since then.

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