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Thru-Hikers Papers

by Jim Owen

Part 6 of 8

Safety and Security

This is a subject that comes up continually because nearly every prospective thru-hike asks questions about safety and security at one time or another. There are a lot of different aspects to it, but I’m only gonna discuss two of them here. The first is family and friends - and the second is personal security. Along the way I’m gonna discuss some things that you might not think about as "safety and security", but I consider it all part of the same package.

Family & Friends

Most of us have family and friends, or at least someone who cares about us. And if you’re going to thruhike, then they’re a part of that hike whether you want it or like it or not. You might want to give some thought to that situation. How are you gonna break the news to your mother - or wife - that you’ll be gone for 5 to 6 months? How are they gonna take it? And if they don’t like it, what will you do about it? How will you handle their fears and worries and objections?

Some time ago I got an email message from a young lady who was looking for advice. She had a friend who was very worried about her and extremely pessimistic about her chances of surviving a thruhike without sustaining major injury or even death. Her friend had even consulted with a person who led NOLS hikes and she had been fed the "Never do anything without getting formal instruction - Always go in groups - Women are always at risk in the wilderness" philosophy. And she believed it.

This was an extreme case, but it’s not completely atypical of the reactions of a lot of friends and family when they realize that you’re really planning to spend five or six months on the Trail. Their perception of the AT is that it’s wilderness. And they conjure up all kinds of dangers that can kill or maim you and that you won’t be prepared to deal with.

So --- what do you do when a friend or brother - or your wife or mother - panics at the prospect of you being out there with the wild animals (either 4-legged or 2-legged) in the rain and snow and heat and mud, with all those nasty bugs and getting blistered and sunburned and starving to death in the wilderness and sleeping in those dirty shelters and breaking legs and arms and catching your death of pneumonia and ....... who knows what all can happen to you out there?

Well—you could just blow them off, but that’s really not a good idea. As I told the young lady mentioned above, her friend "has legitimate concerns and she obviously cares for you. That’s not to be taken lightly because good friends are hard to find." Obviously, the same kind of respect should be given to family concerns.

You need to realize that for the most part their fear is the result of ignorance. And that’s not a condemnation - we’re all ignorant about a lot of things. For example, I’m still ignorant about kayaking, ice climbing and hang gliding. The people who are concerned about you need to know more about what a thruhike is and what it isn’t and why you want to do it. And it’s your job, it’s a part of your hike, to educate them. Keep in mind that most people won’t understand, but at least you can try. There’s a thru-hike world that most people - even most backpackers - know nothing about. And very few people understand it. If you haven’t thruhiked yet, then you don’t really understand it either. But you’re a lot closer to understanding than someone who’s never heard of it, doesn’t know anything about it and doesn’t have the dream. Your explanations may not convince them that it’s safe or that it’s something they want to do - or want you do to. But at least they’ll know that you’ve given it some thought and that you’re not headed off on some idiotic, thoughtless quest that’s gonna get you killed or maimed. Also keep in mind that getting into arguments doesn’t help because nobody wins an argument.

Something else to consider is that, in spite of their ignorance, they KNOW the Trail isn’t easy, so don’t blow your credibility by trying to minimize what you’re doing or feeding them a line of BS about it. They know you - and they’ll pick that up faster than you can believe. If you’re gonna tell them about how safe the Trail is, make sure you have your facts straight - and that means you’ve got to get educated about the AT first. So let’s answer a few of the questions they might ask - and then you can go to the ATC or the books or the email lists or the thru-hike who introduced you to the concept for more information. Also keep in mind that a lot of the problems that thru-hikers encounter can happen anytime, anywhere - even to Saturday afternoon day hikers. Thru-hiking isn’t that much different in some respects.

Death and Dismemberment

The first question you’ll get is obvious - and is usually presented as a statement - "You’re going to DIE out there!!!". To quote the above-mentioned NOLS instructor -

The chances of her getting seriously hurt or dying are pretty high.

I read that line to my wife - and she couldn’t stop laughing. She’s thruhiked the AT twice. She did it alone the first time, and she started alone the second time. To her, the idea that the AT is too dangerous a place for someone who’s young, strong and determined is just too funny for words.

And the facts really don’t support that conclusion at all. If they’re thinking about murder, there have been 7 AT-related murders over the last 60 years. Considering that there are over 4 million visitors per year to the AT, that’s pretty much a minor-league homicide rate. There are very few small towns that can match it. With respect to murder, you’re safer on the AT than you’d be in any city or large-sized town in the United States.

As for other deaths on the AT - there have been very few. In 1997 there were 4 reported deaths on the AT, including a heart attack, a brain tumor, a 200 ft fall and a heat stroke. Not good - but not bad either, considering the numbers of hikers and the type of activity that they engage in.

There are also other types of crime - there’s an occasional rape. But it’s much less common on the Trail than on any large college campus.. There’s also theft - usually because a thru-hike gets careless about their pack and it disappears. But with normal precautions you shouldn’t have that problem. If you want more specific information call the Appalachian Trail Conference.

Broken legs, sprained ankles, tendentious, etc. - these are legitimate concerns, but while a broken leg "might " end your hike - or it might just postpone finishing to another year, there’s no reason for it to be a life-threatening disaster. Even if you’re alone and break a leg, if you use some common sense and don’t get off the Trail, there will be someone along to help you. The AT is a busy trail and it passes near roads frequently. You’re never more than a day, and usually no more than a few hours from help.

It might be a good idea to take a wilderness first aid class if you can. But it’s not the dire necessity it would be if you were doing the CDT. I doubt if 10 % of AT thru-hikers have any serious First Aid training. And so few of us need it, that it’s not even heavily promoted by the ATC.

Other objections

You’ll get objections from all kinds of people, but for now let’s go back to that NOLS instructor, who said -

The only people who attempt what you want to do have been backpacking for fifteen or twenty years.

Until recently, most of the people thru-hiking the AT were either in their teens and early 20’s or retired. And few of them had that kind of backpacking experience. The age distribution has changed somewhat in recent years, but the lack of experience hasn’t. And neither age nor lack of experience make any statistical difference with regard to completing a thruhike in any case. Many of the thru-hikers I know who finished had little or no backpacking experience before they started the Trail. Bill Irwin is blind and had no hiking experience - and he finished. If you read the Kushman’s trail journal - they’re in their 50’s - again, no experience before they started the Trail. They had never carried a full pack before the approach trail to Springer. Some time ago there was a study which concluded that 40% of the people who were starting at Springer Mt. had never carried a backpack before they started their thruhike. I don’t personally think that’s the best way to do it, but --- some of those people made it anyway.

You’ll starve - well, your mother thinks you will - and she may be right. While some don’t, if you’re male you’ll probably lose a lot of weight. I lost 45 # by the time I got to Harper's Ferry. It scared me because I knew I’d need some reserves if I was going to get through the Whites - and if I kept losing weight there wouldn’t be any reserve when I got there. So I started a serious eating program.

If you’re female you probably won’t lose much weight and, in fact, you may gain a few pounds as fat is replaced by muscle. But you’ll get your revenge later - the men almost always gain back all the weight that they lost on the Trail - and maybe a few pounds extra.

Heat, rain and snow are normal thru-hike annoyances and you’ll learn to live with them. They may be uncomfortable, but they’re not likely to kill you on the AT.

Bugs may be annoying, but if you’re carrying a tent and/or insect repellent at least you’ll be able to sleep. And that’s important - if you’re chronically tired your probability of injury increases dramatically.

The shelters are a great idea for some people, but I learned to hate them. Your mother’s right on this one - the shelters are generally not "clean". In addition, they have hard floors, they draw a lot of "snorers" and in the Smokies they tend to draw the bears. And they do have mice, skunks and/or snakes, but some people love them anyway. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

And then there’s another comment by our favorite NOLS instructor -

These [bad] things do happen, so frequently that a lot of people who know what they’re doing choose not to try such massive hikes. It’s like racing the Grand Prix when you barely know how to drive, or trying to sail the Atlantic in a raft -

I want to make it clear that I’m not here to trash NOLS or NOLS instructors - or even this young lady. But her mindset is fascinating and provides a wonderful example of one of the extremes that we thru-hikers run into. This lady is obviously a very organized, sensible individual. She’s one of those people who probably NEVER does anything without getting formal instruction first - usually in a group setting. She’s also been indoctrinated by the "Women in the wilderness are constantly at risk" philosophy. None of this is "bad", per se. But it means that, while she may be an "expert" with regard to group trips, she’ll probably never understand the mindset or motivation of those who thruhike long trails or enjoy solo backpacking. One of the things that a lot of thru-hikers run into is a total intolerance and/or incomprehension with respect to the freedom, the courage, the tolerance for physical pain, the dream - and the hunger - that are the driving motivation for a thruhike. Her inability to understand our dream, though, doesn’t make us any better than her - just different.

To answer her question/statement - some don’t do thruhike because they accept the alarmist philosophies about the dangers of the wilderness.

Those philosophies are not necessarily without foundation, but they’re based on fear and they’re generalizations of specific incidents. And the facts don’t support that kind of generalization. One of the things I re-learned on the Trail was that fear is not a reason to either do or not do something. There’s a quote that fits here although I can’t remember the source: "Courage is not the absence of fear, courage is carrying on despite the fear." Some people have never learned that. Some never will.

But I think the large majority don’t thruhike simply because they’re not willing to give up their home, family, security, job, pension, etc. in order to go on the Trail. I know - there are a lot of people who are waiting for retirement so they can do it. But if I’d waited that long, I wouldn’t have been physically capable of walking the Trail.

The Bottom Line - for me

Is the AT dangerous? Yes, it has it’s dangers. But at the very worst, it’s less dangerous than walking down the street in any city in America. As everywhere else in this world - the most dangerous animal you’ll meet will be your fellow humans - but very few of them are really dangerous.

I’ve been asked whether I’d thruhike again, and the answer is that I will - in 1999 - but not on the AT. I’ve also been asked if I’d encourage my children to thruhike and I answer that this way - I know what the AT is like and I’ve got a daughter - and I wish she would thruhike the AT. She has no backpacking experience, but if she wanted to thruhike, I’d take her to Springer myself. If the AT were really dangerous I’d certainly not take that attitude.

So let’s move on and talk about personal safety on the Trail ---

Personal Safety

Personal safety on the Trail is a concern, but not nearly as big as some people would have you believe. As a prospective thru-hike once told me - "People with ill intent seem to read people ... like dogs smell fear. It is important to present confidence at all times. And almost nothing ever happens to people who do that."

Anyone who lives in a city knows how true this is. In fact, that’s one of the problems when you finish the Trail - you’re so used to the kindness and friendliness that you meet along the Trail (the Trail Magic) that you’ve forgotten the "city attitude". I know several people who lived in cities and hated going home because they felt like prey when they got there. You get over that - but it takes a little time.

One of the lessons from the Trail was a re-connection with the "inner voice" that knows what I need to hear. I’ve learned to listen to the inner awareness that tells me when a situation or person doesn’t feel right. And when that feeling is there - I leave. Even when there’s no logical reason to do so. Not everyone finds that connection, and not everyone can keep it when they return to "civilization". But I don’t discount it - it’s saved my life more than once.

Generally, if you treat people with respect, they’ll return the attitude. If they don’t, get out of there - fast. I spent some years in various martial arts and I was taught that the best weapon I would ever have was my own legs - if I was smart enough to use them to run.

Carrying guidebooks and maps that show the side trails is a good idea - it gives you an added measure of security. For our CDT hike in Colorado this summer, one of the things we did as part of our planning was to mark all the "bail-out points" on the maps. As it happened, we needed to use one of them. Plan ahead --- it wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.

I’m not gonna get into a big discussion about this, but I used hiking poles and they were a part of my security system. In addition to saving your knees, they’re useful against dogs and other pests (including human pests), they can be used as part of a tarp setup and about a million other uses.

So what other aspects of safety do you need to know about? Let me count the ways -

Safety on the Trail

While you’re actually on the Trail there are only a few places where you’ll likely run into dangerous situations. The obvious ones - like the rock walks in the Whites and the stream crossings - are normal thru-hike hazards and dealing with them is part of your thruhike. The most dangerous places on the Trail are towns, road crossings and shelters. So let’s talk about shelters first -

You can substitute "tarp" for "tent" for the next couple paragraphs if you want - but the principle is the same. Some people hear about the shelter system and think "Wow, that’s the way to go - I won’t have to carry a tent and there’ll be a shelter every night and it’s a good place to meet people and ……. ". Some look at it as a form of security. Some just don’t like tents and some don’t want to buy or carry a tent.

But they overlook a few things, so let’s drag a few of those things out into the light -

The first is that the shelters in the South are likely to be very crowded. I haven’t personally experienced 50+ people at a 6 person shelter, but I’ve heard the stories - and so will you if you listen and pay attention. So ---- what are you gonna do if you get to the shelter and there are already 20 people there - and you don’t have a tent - and it’s raining? What are you gonna do when you get to a section of the AT that doesn’t have a shelter - in the middle of a thunderstorm and you need to stop? What are you gonna do when you get to the shelter and it’s dark and raining and 3 drunks are already set up in the shelter and they’re not gonna move over to make room for you? Or worse, if you’re female and they say "Hey, come on in and let’s party, honey". It’s happened. It happened to a female thru-hike several years ago - and she didn’t have a tent. When she told the story at the Gathering, she got no sympathy at all - the general attitude was that she should have known better and should have been carrying a tent or tarp. How would you handle the situation?

Another situation is when you come into a shelter and, even if it’s not dark and/or raining, there are a couple people there, but the situation just doesn’t "feel" right. What do you do? Well - you might want to simply stop for a drink - or at most, to cook dinner - with the attitude that you haven’t decided whether or not to stop there for the night - that you just might move on. Then you can use that time to evaluate the situation. If you don’t like what you see, you can quietly move on (so you can make a few more miles) and nobody’s feelings are hurt. If you come into a shelter and immediately set up for the night, it makes it a lot harder to justify packing up and moving on an hour later - just because you weren’t smart enough to evaluate the situation before you committed yourself . This happened to us in Pennsylvania - and we ended up walking another 9 miles to the next shelter (which was also the next spring) because we didn’t like what we saw at the first shelter.

Whether you’re male or female - a tent is security. A tent means freedom - the freedom to walk as far as you want without being tied to the shelters. More than once the next shelter was too short a distance for the day for me - and the following one was too far. But with the tent, I had the option to pick my own distance, my own campsite. That was freedom. Being tied to the shelters would have been a chain for me. For a lot of women, carrying a tent is also a measure of security. It means that if they get to a shelter on a rainy night and the people or the situation doesn’t "feel" right then they have the option to move on. It’s freedom. And in that situation, it could be freedom from a really bad experience.

A tent is also freedom from skunks, mice, snorers and the myriad other miscellaneous annoyances that come with the shelter system. You’ll sleep better in a tent because it’ll be warmer, quieter, more private, bug-free and the ground isn’t nearly as hard as a shelter floor. Tell me again - why is it that you’re not gonna carry one?

Road crossings are generally not a problem, but once in a while you’ll find some good ol’ boy parked there in his pickup suckin’ on a beer. Sometimes he’s there to share Trail Magic - and sometimes he’s not. I also know some women who were followed into the woods from road crossings. For the most part the follower isn’t gonna catch you, because you can out hike them even with the pack on - and being scared gives you a shot of adrenaline that they don’t have. But it would be best if you don’t do road crossings alone.

That way you’re a lot less likely to have the problem.

For those who are young, single and female you’re probably not going to be hiking alone very much unless you really work at it. Go read Solophile’s 1997 journal on Wingfoot’s web page. Whether you’re male or female, you may find that you have as much protection as you need simply because of the presence of other hikers. Generally speaking, they are your security - thru-hikers are family and they take care of each other.

And then there are towns. Yeah, we all go into town - for pizza, ice cream, a shower, food, beer, laundry, more pizza, phone calls home, more ice cream, post office, more food, etc. And for some of us, when we get to town, we find that it’s a very strange place, that we no longer feel comfortable with all the things that we used to take for granted - like cars and televisions and crowds and bright lights and …………… civilization. It’s confusing, frightening even - and at some point you start wondering how you ever tolerated it before the Trail - and how you’ll ever go back to it. And that can be dangerous because you’ve lost some of your "city survival skills". It leaves you vulnerable, and some of us, at least, can’t wait to get back on the Trail.

For others, it’s dangerous in a different way because they get caught in the "gravity well" and can’t leave town. They get caught up in the food and the beer and the party scene. A lot of those people don’t finish. Or sometimes, like the thru-hike I met in November one year, they finish very late. He was finishing at Harper's Ferry the weekend before Thanksgiving after flip-flopping. Funny thing - he wasn’t into the party scene anymore.

For all of us towns are the most dangerous place in terms of pack theft. While you’re on the Trail, theft is pretty rare. After all who wants to carry someone else’s weight? But when you’re in town - or on the way into or out of town - there are all sorts of characters and you might want to keep your valuables (money, credit cards, ID, etc.) with you all the time. And don’t let go of your pack. One of the problems you’ll encounter is that some places (restaurants, etc.) don’t like you to bring your pack inside. After all, it smells just as bad as you do. I try not to patronize those places, but if I have to then I make a fuss and make sure that the pack goes someplace safe - inside, not outside leaning against a wall. And that someone is gonna take responsibility for it. Or that one of your group is gonna stay outside and watch the packs.

Hitchhiking

I’ve had a few people ask me about hitchhiking. You’ll have to make your own decisions about this. In some states it’s illegal. It’s always time-consuming. And it can be dangerous. So --- to answer just a few questions -

Did I do it? Yes.

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Did I have any problems with it? Nothing more than having to tolerate some of the stranger (although generally harmless) variations in human behavior. One guy was dying and needed someone to talk to.

Would I tell you to do it ? No way. That’s your decision.

Weapons (guns)

I know- some of you wouldn’t even touch a gun - under any circumstances. But that’s another discussion and there are people who do carry guns on the Trail. And others who seriously consider it. If you’re not one of those people you might want to skip down to the next section.

So --- should you carry a gun? A lot of us are asked by friends, relatives or even our local friendly policeman if we’ll carry a gun on the Trail. We could start something here - so, let’s start with the fact that I am a gun owner, but I don’t carry guns on the Trail. Why?

A number of reasons - in descending order of importance:

1. It’s unnecessary. And I won’t expound on that.
2. It’s heavy. Any gun light enough to carry is too light to do the job. Handguns in man stopping calibers are heavy. We’re talking 1.5 to 3 # for a 9mm (and I don’t consider 9mm a man stopping caliber). If you want a .45 or .44, it’s even heavier. Handguns don’t come in bear stopping calibers. Then there’s the support equipment (ammo, cleaning gear, waterproof container, etc.) - all extra weight. Now you’re up to 3 to 5 # or more. For long trail hiking my pack weight is about 25 # (without food and water), and I’ll cut the handle off my toothbrush to save half an ounce. Adding 3 to 5 # of deadweight metal to my pack is totally unacceptable. Some of the newer handguns are made of lightweight materials - but even if they weighed half as much - they’d still be too heavy for long distance hiking.
3. If you were threatened on the Trail, where would the gun be - at the bottom of your pack maybe? For those who haven’t discovered this yet, heavy objects always end up at the bottom of your pack. It’s hard to unlimber the hardware if it’s hidden. And if you carry it openly you won’t make many friends on the Trail. There were some words at one time about concealable holsters - but they’re extra weight too. And it’s not possible to hide something like that under the standard thru-hike clothing ensemble - shorts, T-shirt, boots and socks.
4. If you’re not willing to use lethal force, you shouldn’t be carrying a gun in ANY circumstances, on or off the trail. And the willingness to use that level of force is an attitude that’s too heavy to carry for 2000 miles. I know from personal experience that carrying a gun requires a mindset that’s antithetical to the reasons I’m out there. Personal opinion is that if I ever have to start carrying a gun on the AT, I’ll stop hiking and find something else to do with my life.
5. Paranoia and hoplophobia aside, it’s illegal on much of the AT, the PCT and the CDT.
6. It’s illegal to carry a gun in the National Parks. In New York there’s the Sullivan Law - and it’s got teeth. And in Massachusetts possession of an unregistered gun will buy you an automatic year in jail - no parole, no appeal. Now, where did you say you do your long distance hiking?
7. There are legal aspects to self-defense with a gun. Do you know them? Each state has different criteria with regard to the use of deadly force in self-defense. If you don’t know all of them, you have no business carrying a gun, much less using it.
8. Are you prepared to deal with the police and court system - or even worse - with the press if you use it? Do you really want to abort your thruhike because some idiot hassled you and you blew him away? Isn’t there a better way to handle him? Bottom line - there’s a place for firearms in the wilderness, but it’s a rare long distance hiker - male or female - who’s willing to carry the extra weight. Only newbies do that.

Weapons (knives and other idiocies)

My partner carried a Swiss Army knife with a screwdriver, bottle opener, can opener and corkscrew. I carried a 2", 1.5 oz. single blade pocketknife. I lost it last year and just recently started carrying a SOG Airlite (2.5" blade, 2.2 oz.). For my purposes, anything bigger would be (pardon the expression) overkill. You might want a can opener and sometimes a bottle opener, though. As "weapons" these are not likely to do any real damage to anything larger than a bagel. And that was their only purpose.

I’ve seen knives on the Trail that range from a 1" pocketknife to a 12" Bowie. The bigger the knife, the more weight you’ll carry. For what purpose? Security maybe? Bullfeathers. If you have no knife fighting training or experience, just what do you think you’re going to do with that 12" Bowie - other than getting yourself sliced and diced? Knife fighting is an art and a discipline - and a very messy business when you get down to the cutting. Very few people walk away from a knife fight without leaking massive amounts of blood. And even "winning" doesn’t mean you’ll live to tell about it. It’s a lousy way to abort a thruhike.

Some find the knife totally unnecessary. I think they may be the smart ones.

Animals

The second most dangerous animal on the AT is the shelter mouse. Some think that dogs occupy this particular niche, but I can’t agree with that. Mice WILL get some of your food if you stay in shelters. And everyone stays in shelters at some point. There is no foolproof way to keep them off your food. I’ve watched a mouse make an 8-ft. leap from the shelter rafters onto a food bag. Some of them aren’t that smart, but I wouldn’t bet my food supply on it. And there’s no such thing as a mouse-free shelter.

Mice are much smarter and more persistent than you can imagine, and in fact, are much smarter than I am. The only way I managed to outsmart them was to refuse to stay in shelters. Mice also carry fleas, deer ticks and hantavirus. But most importantly, they’re active at night and interrupted my sleep - and that’s not to be tolerated.

Then there are skunks, bears, raccoons, etc. Generally, the only real danger they present is that they’re after your food. I lost the fight and the bear got our food at Ethan Pond. Some shelters have skunks or snakes. Please don’t feed them or mess with them - generally if you leave them alone, they won’t hurt you. And they’re performing a public service by controlling the mouse population. Remember - it’s their home, we’re only transient visitors.

Dogs are also a common danger. They can be scary, but few thru-hikers seem to actually get bitten. Part of my "security" on the Trail was that I carried hiking sticks - actually, I used cheap garage sale variety ski poles. They’re light, strong and cheap - and the odd stray dog has little desire to eat 4 feet of steel or aluminum pole.

A Bear Story

This is a bear story from 1992 - it isn’t a story that’ll tell you how smart I am.

When we got to Ethan Pond, we didn’t even have to read the register to know there was an active bear in the area - there were 3 huge clear garbage bags full of obviously well chewed-on hiker trash. The shelter was full (6 other thru-hikers) so we went out to the tent platforms. The bear first showed up while we were cooking dinner - and he wanted to be invited. So I took my "bear picture" and then threw rocks and sticks until he got the idea that he wasn’t welcome (I got lucky and hit him on the nose). After dinner we hung the food and went to sleep - and that’s when he came back.

Like the shelter mice, he was smarter than I was - he climbed up above the food bags and played pinata with them until the cords broke. He got 2 of the 3 food bags. At which point I got stupid and went out to get them back. Understand that I was bone-deep tired from 5 months on the Trail, my knees were doing BAD things to me, I had run out of cookies and it was raining - so I wasn’t in a real friendly mood. When I got out there the bear was sitting on top of the food bags and I tried to scare him off. In the midst of my brain cramp I’d forgotten that bear logic says as long as I had the food it was mine, but when he got it - it was HIS. So there I was - in a Mexican standoff with a bear at 6 feet, me with my flashlight and boots (Yeah - NOTHING else) and him with his teeth, claws, hunger and nasty disposition. When he got tired of having the flashlight shine in his eyes and jumped forward 2 feet, I jumped back 20 feet and - the food was his. He then proceeded to prowl and growl for about 3 hours while we tried to get back to sleep. The only satisfaction we got was when we heard him bite into the coffee bags and gag on them. And when he choked on the Lipton's dinners. To add insult to injury, we had to pick up the trash he left behind and carry it out. One interesting point is that he ate not just the food, but most of the foil containers as well.

NOT end of story. After he finished with us he went to the shelter. Some of the guys had hung their food in a small tree right in front of the shelter. So with 6 people shouting, banging pots, shining flashlights and throwing anything they could get their hands on, he proceeded to knock the tree down and raid their food bags. This was NOT a happy crew when we passed them at 0630.

NOT end of story. The next day two friends were camped about a mile from Ethan Pond and the same bear scared them away from their campsite and took their dinner right out of the pot. That was one healthy, well-fed bear.

OK, what did I tell you here - other than that I’m not always brilliant? The bear isn’t after you - he/she is after your food. Bear logic says - As long as you have the food it’s yours (unless the bear can scare you away from it), but if he/she has the food then it’s THEIRS. And they’re willing to fight for it. You don’t REALLY want to wrestle a bear, do you?

The bear wasn’t the dangerous part of this situation - it was MY actions that made it dangerous. Be smarter than I was - if you can scare him off while you still have the food - cool. But once he has the food, don’t challenge him, just make plans to pack the trash into town. And get lots of good pictures.

End of bear story.

The End

There are volumes more that could be said about safety and security, but for me it comes down to this - that personal safety is a matter of common sense and mental attitude. Pay attention - to your surroundings, to the people around you and to your own feelings. And don’t play with things that bite.

For more information, see Wingfoot’s Thru-hike’s Handbook and the ALDHA AT Companion - they each have sections on security.

Part 5 - Part 7

© Copyright 1997 Jim Owen

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