laugh Thanks all for you replies. I appreciate hanging food well away from camp so the animals don't get in the habit of food being close to, or in, camp. I live in the Pacific Northwest and mostly hike/climb in the Olympic mountains. We see bears now and then, but have only seen three close up in the past couple of years. Two ran away, but stopped less than 100 feet from us. One very slowly walked through camp and seemed to be uninterested in us or the dinner we were cooking.(which doesn't say much about my cooking!) We were very quiet and watched in awe! One of the problems with bears (and avalanches) is, I think, that you get too comfortable over the years when you don't have a problem. But they are somewhat unpredictable, and so you need to take precautions every time and also set an example for those that are with you so they don't get careless.

There are no bear problems, only people problems.
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Jim M