I have always taken a hand gun into the woods,from a 357 colt to a small stub nose 44 mag. Never worried about bears it was more worry about humans, there are some nuts out there. Now I am older, the childern are growen, I worry about how much weight I have in my pack - this last trip to sequoia kings 50 mile loop, we stayed out 7 days, the gun stayed home, my pack weight was at 35 lbs and with 7000 feet of gain and loss on elevation, the extra weight I carried was advil.

I guess I am blessed. I know we have many nut cases in Canada too but on the trails where I go I hardly meet anyone. When I do meet another hiker they seem like the nicest of people. Some of them are even Americans. Can you believe it?

I have a friend from Ventura California. We knew each other for years but only on the Net. One year we actually got together and hiked here in BC. He told me how he usually hikes carrying a handgun, which of course he could not do here. I asked him if he ever used it. Sure, he said. I shot at a rattle snake once, but then I kept missing and so I had to kill it with a rock. LOL!

Howie