My neighbor was charged by a bear on the PCT

I talked with my neighbor who came by today, never does, he was along the section of the PCT in the Bucks Lake Wilderness the same time as I was there yesterday, some how we missed each other. A bear charged him, huffing and such, he yelled at it, waving his hiking poles, it stopped, he turned his back to walk away and it charged again. He yelled again and waved his poles once a gain. Slowly backed away while the bear huffed some more then the bear retreated, he came home I guess, did not say if he completed his hike to Mt. Pleasant. This was just above Granite Gap, one of us had the time wrong as I was there at about the same time. Silver Lake is a short 7 mile drove or so from home, where the trail starts up to Rock, Mud Lakes by Granite Gap.
Duane

From that description, it seems plain that the bear considered him a threat for some reason. Hence the bluff-charging -- which is the correct terminology, I think, even if it didn't feel much like a bluff to your neighbor, I'm sure.

Too bad we can't ask the bear for more details about what the heck it was thinking.

I wonder if he was too close to the cub, which may have been in a tree nearby....
The bear may have found a meal somewhere close too that it didn't want him to have. Hard to say, but I bet it made sense to the bear....

Of course to both of you. It was in a fairly open area though, but the bear was over a slight hill. May have only heard my neighbor before acting.
Duane

If you all are really interested in this subject, read this:

Responding to Human-Black bear conflicts

This document is subject to change as bears are better understood, but I think most of the information is pretty right on for what it is. The behavior Duane described is a defensive display or dominance behaviour. It would be interesting to know if it was male or female, with cubs or single, ect. But I won't be the one to check

When I saw the subject line I thought a bear had set up a PCT tollbooth.

Giant, clawed rats, the whole lot of 'em.

Cheers,

About where I had to pick up the trail leading back down Granite Gap, I was passed by a couple cowboys headed nobo, horses loaded with panniers/gear, one had a can of beer. I had a brief thought to ask if he had more, but passed. They asked about Three Lakes, I told them I heard some rednecks firing shots Saturday night, they asked how I knew that, told them well it may have been a cowboy too, joking of course. Very clean looking guys in the late 30's or a tad older. Must of just started that morning.
My neighbor did not see a cub, no way of telling why the bear acted the way it did, may have just been surprised with the poor view of the trail or my neighbor was looking ahead too far and did not see the bear until the bear acted.
Duane

From what I've read and heard, it's never advisable to turn around and walk away from a bear charge. I'd always heard to wait till the bear is gone before backing away, but while in Yellowstone recently the ranger instructions were to back away slowly; maybe different protocol for grizzlies vs. black bear? Or maybe different protocol for pre-charge vs. post-charge.

I have luckily never been in that situation myself - glad to hear that your neighbor was fine when all is said and done. At least he has a great story to tell now!

The way I recall it you're supposed to face down black bears but soil yourself and play dead for griz. Something like that.

I make sure to only have one set of rules to follow by not backpacking anywhere griz live. Keeps things simpler.

I think I would soil myself regardless of the type of bear...just sayin'

dkramalc, did the ranger also mention avoiding direct eye contact? Just curious....

With the black bear, it's all about you telling the bear that he doesn't want any piece of you...but of course its all with attitude. Direct eye contact (loose the sun glasses), lots of loud "power" voice sounds, standing up tall, waving the hiking poles ect. Another reason to travel in groups cause its much less of a problem then.

Just to be clear, don't do that stuff with a griz. Animal behavior is pretty interesting stuff. Sometimes you might even have to use that knowledge.

Hikerduane, I'm glad your friend is ok.

Yes, they did mention no direct eye contact.

Here's been my general understanding based on various readings: with a charging black bear (in the absence of readily available bear spray) you don't move during the charge or shortly afterwards; whether or not you avoid eye contact depends on whether it's a mom defending cubs ("No mom, I'm not a threat, not even looking you in the eye, it's just little old me") or more of an aggressive challenge ("I'm a tough dude, not questioning your authority but you don't want to pick a fight with me regardless, Mr. Bear") or a stalking bear (fight back any way you can).

But of course it depends on the "authority". Doug Peacock, an author who wrote about spending a lot of time around grizzlies and has apparently had bazillions of encounters, wrote about acting more assertively with grizzlies only when it's a young male acting out his testosterone, but otherwise as you say being soft spoken and non-aggressive. I'm not recommending that but it's interesting to note.

The one universal thing seems to be not to turn around and walk or run away after a charge; that signals that you are "prey".

And yeah, I think my reaction to a charge would be soiling my pants, regardless of charging species. So far I've had plenty of black bear encounters but no really close-up ones.

With any predator, if it runs, it's dinner! Never run! IMHO that may be the hardest thing to remember when the confrontation happens.

Unfortunately, something like this you can't gain any experience before hand. My neighbor is retired, goes to South America and Mexico a few months in the winter, his wife to Germany. They have grandkids, so this got him thinking. He has a PLB for his mt bike rides, he'll probably get some pepper spray now to "pack" all the time as he has ridden up on a sow and cub before, with them not knowing he was there. He rides some with another retired gent.
Duane