Recollections From the Way Back Machine

Ep. 4 Wilderness areas belong to the critters! We are just visiting.

In my last post, The Fungus Amongus, I talked about the beauty of the Sherando Lake Recreation area in the George Washington National Forest and how my family enjoyed camping there. I also mentioned that I would soon write about a black bear encounter. Well, here we go.

On this particular camping trip, my sons and I decided to go without Mom or sister. As usual, the first order of business was to set up the tent and campsite. That included things like hanging the propane lantern and maybe a clothesline for drying towels or damp clothes. We also had a 5-gallon water container that would stay on top of the picnic table. Food was usually kept secured in the truck away from critters and bugs. It is also recommended that deodorants, toothpaste, and any colognes are also not kept in the tent. Those things are huge critter attractants! When my family first started camping at Sherando there were no bear lockers anywhere. Now, each campsite has a bear locker that can be used for storing anything that may attract a bear.

So the boys and I had a great day in the mountains, ate a great meal that was cooked outside, and went to bed. Night noises like crickets, frogs, and birds would usually lull you to sleep quite soon after laying down. I’m not sure what time it was but one of my sons started whispering to try and wake me up. After I realized I wasn’t dreaming I rolled over and in a normal voice said something like what the heck what is going on? My son got very frustrated with me and whispered shhh- don’t talk loud. OK, what the heck I whispered back. Shhhh…there is a bear outside! What? Shhh… there is a bear outside! Son, how do you know? Dad, he exclaimed in a whisper, he was whiffing (smelling) me through the tent wall, right at my face! Oh dang, I thought. You don’t want to discount the possibility but maybe we can ignore the reality. Let’s try to get the bear to leave by creating some noise and turning on our flashlights. That must have worked and we eventually went back to sleep. Maybe an hour or so later Aaron is once again whispering me awake. Huh? What? Shhh…dad that bear is back. Dang son you sure? Yes, He was smelling me through the tent again and I hear it out there rustling around. Doggone it I don’t want to tangle with an animal way larger than me. What are we going to do I asked myself. Before myself could respond all hell broke loose in the campsite. Thrashing around and growling. We waited a bit then went outside with our flashlights. Yes, there were bear footprints in the dirt and a 2-liter soft-drink bottle lay on the ground. Apparently, that bear picked up the bottle, shook it, and then clamped down piercing the bottle with his teeth! It wasn’t prepared for that stuff to spray out all over the place when he punctured the bottle and it scared it enough to make him leave. Ok then now we can get some sleep. I don’t want to wake up again until the sun is up. Sure enough, in what seemed to be only an hour Aaron is whispering in my ear again. Shhh… Daddy that stupid bear is back out there. I’m exasperated and tired too. Ok here’s the plan. At the count of three, we are going to jump out of the tent, yell and shine our flashlights around. If he doesn’t leave head for the truck and get in very quickly! Very slowly I slid the door zipper down and opened the flap. We jumped out and darn near got trampled by a small herd of deer that had gathered at our campsite. They went ballistic running and jumping everywhere. What a laugh and memories for a lifetime.

By the way, adult male black bears weigh between 130-660 pounds and females are 90-180 pounds with the weight being seasonal and diet-dependent. They are omnivores and can consume both plant and animal matter. AND a black bear can run 30 miles per hour. A couple of areas along the Appalachian Trail were closed to campers this Spring due to overly aggressive black bears harassing hikers and campers. Best to just leave them alone. No, they aren’t cuddly and don’t work for the forest service putting out fires!

Y’all try to be good now!