Friday, June 12 7:48 pm 14.2 mi
AT 560.4 Knot Maul Shelter → AT 574.6 Stealth Campsite
Weather: Sunny and beautiful!
Trail Conditions: Chock full of bears!
My Condition: Right ankle quite sore this morning. So far, it’s been totally manageable pain-wise, just a matter of stretching it in the AM, PM, and whenever it’s hurting or feeling tight. Once it’s loose and I’m moving, I’m good enough. Still, I took a shorter day to support healing – let’s get this thing back to normal!
Thankfully, no bear encounters last night after getting water. I was a little bit on edge, but it was a relatively quiet night. Today, I saw 4 additional bears. This morning, I saw a momma bear take off running ahead and into some woody area on the right as two teeny, tiny, teddy bear sized cubs climbed their way up a tall tree to the left of the trail. I grabbed a couple pictures as the cubs climbed, and then slowly walked past the tree continuing northbound along the trail. I saw the mom hunched down watching me, grunting and huffing, but as I came into view she again retreated into the woods. Later on, I saw an adult from far off on the ridgeline. I was lucky enough to be able to catch some video on my good camera of the bear ambling, sniffing, foraging, and finally fleeing once it noticed me. Either the bears are very shy or I’m scary/smelly/scary smelly! Met some forest service folks ahead of Chestnut Knob shelter doing some trail work. Thanked them, and they gave me an apple! Chestnut Knob is an old, fully enclosed shelter which used to serve as the fire warden’s home. Would’ve been a cool place to stop, but I found a great camp spot along the ridgeline so I can show my ankle some love through stretching and rest. Hopefully it responds well and feels great tomorrow!
Post Trail Analysis
5 bears in less than 24 hours – that’s pretty darn cool! The encounter with the mama bear with her cubs had the potential to turn ugly, but I remained calm and listened to my gut instincts. After watching the cubs in astonishment as they climbed, I knew that to continue onwards I would need to pass between the tree the cubs were in, to the trail left, and the mom, who was further ahead to the trail right. I would either need to retreat and wait for the cubs to climb down and for the bear family to wander off, or proceed ahead with caution. I went with the second option, ready to make myself look large with my trekking poles and make a lot of noise as I moved slowly but confidently ahead. The mom made certain I knew she was there before retreating off. When you encounter bears, you hope that this is how it goes. I talked earlier about bears becoming problem bears, acclimating to people and to bad habits formed through their interactions with irresponsible humans. Heck, last night I was one of those irresponsible people, sleeping in a shelter with my food bag hanging there right above me, wrapped up like a burrito in my quilt with a veritable food pinata floating above my head. Very fortunately for me, this mama bear had not developed these problematic behaviors, and behaved exactly how wildblack bears are supposed to around humans, cautious of me but willing to let me pass if my intentions were good. I breathed easy once I was no longer trapped between a mom and her cubs. The bear I saw later in the day was the biggest I saw all trail. This place was aptly named – the sign near Chestnut Knob reads Beartown Wilderness, Jefferson National Forest. Again, I cautiously ate, brushed, and used the restroom well away from my camp, as I brashly slept with my food bag in my tent. Looking through my old pictures, this was also the day that I had to take off my shoes and do a barefoot river crossing since the footbridge had washed completely ashore during recent flooding.
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