It was an eventful morning at Muskrat Creek Shelter. And it seems that the rumors about bearish activity were true. We woke up to find that a bear stole food from two hikers (who did a near-perfect PCT) during the night. They finally found the remains of their food bag, but it was completely destroyed. Interestingly, it appears that this particular bear had created a den near the campsite. In addition to the destroyed bag, he had also stolen other objects. This included two aluminum pots, two stoves, kitchen towels, a rotary fuel, and assorted trash from hikers’ snacks.
Lottery
We’re still not quite sure how this bear overcame a textbook PCT block. Somehow, my Ursack that was tied to a nearby tree also remained completely intact. I think it may have been bad luck, but for now I’ll wait and see if it continues. Almost every shelter in Georgia had cables or bear boxes to safely store our food. The first night entering North Carolina seems to have demonstrated why this is so important to both the bears and us.
on my own
I decided to just walk 9 miles today since I have until Sunday to get to my next resupply pickup. It became a warm, sunny day, and the view from the top of Standing Indian Mountain was clear and beautiful. I took things very slowly today and enjoyed sitting by a stream alone for a while, taking it all in. I set up my tent for the night at Beech Gap. It was a lovely campsite at the foot of the mountain. There was a large field with plenty of tent sites and it was a short walk to a well flowing stream.
I’m feeling a little sad that the two hikers who had their food stolen won’t be with us tonight. We hope you can catch up soon. Tonight should be one of our last cold nights before it starts to warm up (at least for now). I’m hanging up my Ursack now and hope it’s still there in the morning.
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