Stick with the sacrificial human, you don't want to hurt a cute little bear's eyes with the pepper spray! :)

You better allow for a little extra time with that stride. :eek:

I went hiking in the North Georgia mountains, until I heard the banjo playing. Ran back to my truck...............

I hiked Santa Rosa island last week, which included a full sail around Santa Cruz -- beautiful!

http://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisi...osa-island.htm

I hiked in Nisene a few weeks ago on a work trip, beautiful up there. Lots of pot farms though, need to be alert.

come out here and do the C&O canal. about 190 miles cumberland, md to georgetown....nice flat walk and camping sites along the way.

you need a bear bell or 2.

good idea. they say travel in groups thru bear country. and like i told my kids, that way you don't have to worry about trying to outrun a bear. just outrun at least one of the people with you.

You are far more likely to be attacked by a human while hiking than a bear, and you are infinitely more likely to get killed in your drive over to the hike than you are to be killed by a bear.

Good point, but someone needs to invent a human bell too.

I rode that on a bike going from georgetown in september 2003. it rained almost the entire way. there's not much an incline but trust me. when you're riding in mud, you can tell it's uphill.

the pee paw tunnel was great.

i have ALOT of bicycle miles on the canal. the section between sheperdstown and williamsport has really gotten ROUGH from wash-outs. park service has been rebuilding and re-working.
the RR tunnels at point of rocks are pretty cool too.

That may be true somewhere but definitely not here. The car crash, that is fact for just about any activity there is.

You are correct as long as you smart concerning bear behavior. I have never had a problem with them. I even ended up walking next to one on a dirt road once. Neither myself, my dog or the bear noticed each other and when we finally did, Nikki and I just stopped and let the bear go ahead. I broke the rule of making noise when in the woods.


And for the record, I have no knowledge of any missing humans in my area.:D

Other than grizzlies, and perhaps momma bears with cubs, bears want nothing to do with people. They may want your food however.

I've had bears in my back yard here in Maine, and when they see me, they take off like a shot.

The majority around here take off too but Ct. releases their problem bears on my road. Some of them are alittle bolder around people but still I have never had an issue with them and enjoy seeing them. It's just a matter of being familiar with bear behavior, recognizing the ear tags and collars, and not contributing to the delinquency of the bears by feeding the birds in the warm weather, leaving garbage outside, etc..

I don't hike, but enjoy running on trails. No mountains here (IL) but there are some hilly state parks within a couple hours. I'm going to run at Starved Rock on Saturday--should be fun.