Hello All,
You may recall my thread about working in bear country this spring. Now that I am on the outside and have access to the internet I thought I would give you all an update.
I ended up working in the Bob Marshall wilderness (northwest Montana) which is absolutely awesome country. The hiking was very intense. Over the summer I hiked around 750 miles which averaged out to about 15 miles a day with some 25 milers thrown in to keep it interesting. Pack weights reached 80 pounds on the days we were freighted down for periods away from resupply points. Of course the days when the packs were heaviest were also the days when we had the longests hikes. 25 miles through the mountains is quite a chore. Ok, enough about the work load on to bear stories...........
The study covered over 8 million acres and employed 160 field technicians. No one was attacked and sketchy encounters were very few so that was good. I, myself, saw about a dozen bears most of which were jumped at close range in the brush. They all ran except a black bear which stood her ground when we treed one on her cubs. We backed off and took lunch and they had left before we returned. We also bumped into a Griz with cubs at close range. One climbed a tree but luckely she followed the one that ran up the hill and we made tracks before she returned. All in all I never ended up having to unholster my Counter Assault much less defend myself against an attack. The only times I really felt uncomfortable were the nights we we woke up to bears crashing around close to camp in the dark.
Overall in was it was an amazing summer that ened way too quickly. Spending 2.5 months in a wildness area is an experience I will not soon forget and my only regret is that I didn't get to hunt elk while I was there. I will try to post some pics in the next few weeks but for now I thought I would let you know that I am still alive and didn't get eaten.
Goodnight.
Matt
You may recall my thread about working in bear country this spring. Now that I am on the outside and have access to the internet I thought I would give you all an update.
I ended up working in the Bob Marshall wilderness (northwest Montana) which is absolutely awesome country. The hiking was very intense. Over the summer I hiked around 750 miles which averaged out to about 15 miles a day with some 25 milers thrown in to keep it interesting. Pack weights reached 80 pounds on the days we were freighted down for periods away from resupply points. Of course the days when the packs were heaviest were also the days when we had the longests hikes. 25 miles through the mountains is quite a chore. Ok, enough about the work load on to bear stories...........
The study covered over 8 million acres and employed 160 field technicians. No one was attacked and sketchy encounters were very few so that was good. I, myself, saw about a dozen bears most of which were jumped at close range in the brush. They all ran except a black bear which stood her ground when we treed one on her cubs. We backed off and took lunch and they had left before we returned. We also bumped into a Griz with cubs at close range. One climbed a tree but luckely she followed the one that ran up the hill and we made tracks before she returned. All in all I never ended up having to unholster my Counter Assault much less defend myself against an attack. The only times I really felt uncomfortable were the nights we we woke up to bears crashing around close to camp in the dark.
Overall in was it was an amazing summer that ened way too quickly. Spending 2.5 months in a wildness area is an experience I will not soon forget and my only regret is that I didn't get to hunt elk while I was there. I will try to post some pics in the next few weeks but for now I thought I would let you know that I am still alive and didn't get eaten.
Goodnight.
Matt
, Art