While laying on the hammock this afternoon, I received call from Teddy - but he sounded different. Stressed. Could it be the reality of walking 944 miles has set in? Or maybe that he has seen himself in a mirror 18+ pounds lighter than he left. Or is it that he just misses his family. Or the beard and facial hair interrupting meal time is just too much. No, nothing as unprecedented as those things would stress Teddy out like this. No, this voice was evoked by the huge teeth marks he discovered running through his cook pot.
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| *photo NOT taken by Teddy* via google images |
Enter: second encounter with a bear on the PCT. This one - not behind a cage or a fence, and certainly not in any Hollywood movie to date. Scarecrow and Not Ryan were on their second consecutive 18 mile day, headed into Tuolumne. Exhausted from upping their mileage, they made it into a campsite around 9:30 p.m. After cooking, and setting up camp, it was after 10:45 p.m. before they settled in their tents for the night. Standard procedure is to place contained food and cooking supplies a decent distance away from your sleeping quarters, preferably hung from a tree, for obvious reasons. A rustling of their pots caused them to jump up and investigate. They located their cooking pots, but as Not Ryan stated, "That ain't where I left mine." They both had left all of their food safely stored in bear-proof canisters, as per PCT regulations, with their cook pots on top. In the dark, headlamps on, they found their stuff, being handled by something... about 15 feet away. At first, all they saw were eyes glaring back at them, as Not Ryan yelled out, "Get outta here... Go away, bears" - but as their eyes adjusted, they were able to make out the bodies of a momma bear and her cub, startled by the yelling, as they dropped the cook pots and sauntered off into the night.
Needless to say, their food canisters AND damaged cooking gear were hung until morning with no further incidence. It wasn't until this morning, in looking at the pot, that Teddy saw the huge tooth puncture in his pot, causing this piece of equipment now to be non-functioning (hence the understandable stress in his voice). It definitely humbled Teddy, magnifying his respect for nature, its creatures, and the etiquette he must maintain while hiking through this beautiful landscape.
~The Thruhiker's Wife ~
Wow, they were so lucky this momma wasn't as protective as most momma bears are. I'm so glad he has someone with him on this leg of the trail. I'll keep him in my prayers that God keeps them safe and that they don't have anymore close encounters of the dangerous kind.
ReplyDeleteWow, now Teddy must only cook with the bear necessities. It's a shame his cook pot met with such a grizzly fate. I hope he can bear to be without it until he can get a new one.
ReplyDeleteWell if the bear had to bite something, I'm glad it was a pot and not a hiker! Keep on keeping on, Scarecrow! 944 miles. You rock!!
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