My first encounter with a bear on the AT

One of the most common words you’ll hear on the trail is the «b» word. Yes, I mean the word «bear.» Even before hitting the trail, it seems to be a hot topic of conversation. People always wonder about bears. It could be one of the most common fears of both hikers and their loved ones.

The reality is that bear sightings are unpredictable. Some hikers never see a bear the entire hike. Others look at the world’s bear population in the span of a week.

Personally, I had never seen a bear in the wild before. I seriously doubted if I would find one during my walk. As a crisis communicator, I have carefully observed all of the signs and warnings here regarding bear activity and proper overnight food storage. I didn’t know when I started that seeing a bear would happen sooner rather than later….

The meeting

My encounter with the bear occurred at the end of a long day of hiking. I had just completed my first 20+ mile day (wooo!) and met up with a small group of fellow hikers at the shelter that night. It wasn’t long before we had all prepared dinner, cleaned up, stored/hanged our food, and settled into the shelter. Most of us were sleeping in the shelter because it was going to rain that night.

It only rained a little but soon we were all grateful to be in the shelter.

Around 11 pm ET, a fellow hiker woke us all up by banging his trekking poles and yelling at something in the distance. At first I thought it was a mouse (sleeping brain). Turns out it was a bear.

We could barely make out the bear in the distance. But when we did, our hearts sank. He had found the food. For those who had hung their food, the bear went after those bags with little abandon. No noise seemed to influence or scare him away. I was determined to get the food.

Needless to say, the rest of the night was pretty much sleepless. The bear would get bored trying to get the food, but would return an hour later to try again. This cycle occurred all night. At one point, the bear even approached the shelter. It was on the other side of the ring of fire and it was so close that I could make it out better than when it was further away. We managed to push him away with some shouting and hitting with sticks, but it certainly made our hearts race a little.

Luckily, we were fine the next morning, even if we were a little sleep deprived. The food on the other hand? Eeehhh.

The revelation

The next morning they revealed a bag of food to us to determine how we all fared. Me and another hiker, who had bear canisters, were fine. The other hikers didn’t fare as well.

A hiker lost everything: food, bag and everything. The others’ bags were still intact with several puncture wounds. Some of his things (the ones at the top of the bag) were usually fine. The food at the bottom was practically destroyed. For all of them.

It was quite a scene. We all laughed a lot because it was the only thing we could do. But now, most of the group had no food.

The group ended up deciding to go into town to resupply their equipment and food. Since I was ready to start, I decided to keep walking. I’ve touched base with that group ever since. They are fully stocked and back on track!

Final verdict?

Offers lifetime jackpots!

It’s probably an unpopular opinion. I think most AT hikers use food bags. And I understand it. Bear canisters are heavy, clunky, don’t pack well, and can be difficult to deal with. The advantage is that the food is mostly safe and much easier to store overnight. There is also no need to look for a tree to hang it, which is sometimes a great relief.

I’m sticking with my bear canister for now and praising God that I had one during this encounter.

I’m not sure I ever imagined this would be my first bear sighting. Ultimately, it turned out well for everyone. I’m thankful the only victims were the bags of food. I’m not sure if I’ll encounter another bear here, but I’m hoping that if I do, the encounter will be a little less eventful.

And so we continue the adventure….

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.