Day 17: Off to Smoky’s!

Today is the first day at Smoky’s! Along with some more bear shenanigans.

Shelter etiquette anyone?

I woke up from the Fontana Hilton shelter this morning, but unfortunately that wasn’t the only time I was woken up. At night, a woman was turning her backpack in the shelter looking for something with her headlamp. I later learned that he was looking for his vaporizer. This took more than an hour, at least until 11 at night.

After that, he jumped from the upper platform, almost hurting himself and making a fuss. He started talking very loudly to another person. I mean, come on! When I called her to ask her to be quiet, she ran out and started whispering. I got the impression he was under the influence, which is fine by me, just shut up.

After trying to get back to sleep, a guy kept coming in with what I can only describe as an oversized double lightsaber, illuminating the entire shelter. It must be midnight already. Anyway, I’m the bad guy now, so I asked him to turn the thing off when he entered the shelter.

Finally I was able to sleep a little, until 5 in the morning. That’s when the first people woke up and decided to talk about their entire action plan for the day. Strong. In the shelter. Really people? I don’t mind the noise of people packing up early in the morning, but this is just inconsiderate. These people have been the worst shelter buddies ever. The view from the shelter is very beautiful.

Is the hiker missing?

In the morning we met Tags, he seemed worried. No one has seen the United States in the last three days. Which is strange, because he’s always around. He also doesn’t respond to any text messages or calls. America has been saying previously that he has some cardiovascular problems and has reiterated that he carries five baby aspirin in his pocket, which we should put in his mouth in case he has a heart attack.

As you can imagine, we thought of all possible scenarios. 99% chance it’s okay. But that 1% didn’t sit well with us.

Reporting a hiker missing when they could have gotten separated is a bit much. But it didn’t seem right to do anything either. We decided we should inform the rangers, just so they can keep an eye out.

But before we could do anything, Tags received a text message. He is from America. He’s fine. He went off the road a couple of days ago to avoid heavy rain. He doesn’t really like walking in the rain. Later today you will go on a hike to Fontana.

False alarm. But I think it’s good that people take care of each other. And if you unexpectedly decide to veer off course or something, letting someone know might not be the worst idea.

Some nicer views from the shelter.

Smoky’s, here we come!

We left Fontana, crossed the dam and walked straight into Smoky’s.

It started with a nice climb, and… SNAKE! Right on the road, without moving. After a minute, old Stroop says, «oh, well, it’s probably harmless.» Which I interpret as: “Just walk through it!” No, I don’t do that! He knows as little about snakes as I do. I’m not going to take any risks. I’ll stay here until he moves. Which finally happened! The coast is clear.

A few kilometers ahead we headed to the watchtower. You can see the dam from here! It’s great to see how far we’ve walked this morning.

The rest of the day was a nice walk on a nice, gentle trail. For the first time I felt like I could go another five miles, after a 15 mile day. But you don’t need to push it.

Bear Problem: The Trilogy

Do you know what’s better than a sequel? A trilogy! And we didn’t have to wait long. When we arrived at the shelter, everyone was looking at us. I thought it was a warm welcome. Hello everyone!

But no, they were watching because there was a bear right behind us. Thanks for the warning guys. But if. It was a black bear, of course. And a big one at that.

They are beautiful animals, it is really cool to see them in the wild during the day. But they are still wild animals. And this one was approaching our camp. Getting closer. Until we no longer feel comfortable with it.

Tags stayed somewhere behind us and no one else has experience with bears. I guess it’s up to me to defend them. But I know what to do this time.

We start making noise, shouting loudly and softly at the bear, blowing our whistles, but nothing, it keeps getting closer. We picked up stones and started throwing them, but again, Nothing. Shit… Until I threw a rock that hit the bear right in the face. Now it’s finally backing off a bit. But not much.

The bear continued to circle the shelter, not really deterred. At least now they are a little more afraid of rocks. We kept an eye on him, but at one point he took a single step. I instinctively let out the most primal scream I have ever made. At least it seemed to work.

We’ve seen enough, this bear isn’t going anywhere. Everyone finished their food, hung their bags on the bear cables, and headed to the shelter. Headlamps, stones, trekking poles, everything within reach in case the bear gets an idea.

Luckily we didn’t have any more problems during the night. But the next day it was still there. The next afternoon we came across a ridge couloir.

He heard about our problems, but also told us about another bear terrorizing the shelter 3 miles from here. He said that this time of year the bears are very hungry, because there are no berries on the bushes yet. It’s making the bears bolder than usual.

It also confirmed that we did the right thing. “If they get too close, you have to scare them to death,” in his own words. It is also recommended to throw stones in a situation like this.

I’m glad everyone is safe and no one’s food was taken away. But I think I’ve had enough bear encounters to last a lifetime.

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