when I was 8 or 9 at a YMCA Camp in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. We had picked a bunch of blueberries while out on a hike and were staying in a 3 wall shelter off the Appalachian Trail. Counselor left them in a bucket under where he had strung his hammock. Middle of night wake up to 30 screaming kids and a freaked out black bear taking off faster than any of them. Closest I've been. Counselor was closer. Probably just a kid too who was scared out of his gourd.
Every time I've picked blueberries in the Smokys, I've kept a close eye out, round no blind corners, etc. That is a good way to get hurt, because they're really touchy about food. After I'd run off the bear, just a yearling, from our food bag, my wife went up the hill to a little copse of trees to answer nature. I glanced up and she and the bear exited the trees in opposite directions at high speed, she still pulling up her pants.
Once, I was genuinely scared. It was the Peck's Corner shelter on the AT in the GSMNP. It hadn't been remodeled and was still basically a large stone lean-to, with a chain link fence with gate across the open side. Oddly, the end corner posts were bent in about 4" or so. That night, I found out why. The bear attacked the fence about midnight, roaring and bawling, doing his best to get in. I can only think he could smell all the food inside or rabies. It was before we discovered pepper spray. However, one hiker had a can of Mace. He emptied it into the bear's face, with no effect whatsoever. Now, all the shelters have been opened up and you're required to hang your food on cables remote from the shelter.
Talking about pepper spray, after the bear stole my wife's pack, the Park Service closed the site, #13, but gave me permission to go back and try to retrieve the pack. I had tried when it was stolen, but gave up after descending about a quarter mile from where I'd seen the bear the next day, and in the direction he'd departed when he saw me. I decided to go in from the NC side. A guy, with a friend and about a ten-year old boy were parked next to me and had just come off the trail. I asked where they had been and they said #13 (illegally). I next asked if they'd had bear trouble. Their answer was "in spades!" I asked if it had learned to chew through ropes. They answered "three different methods." They'd finally stood 4 hour watches through the night. I didn't even bother to climb the mountain. I stayed down at the first site on the Twenty Mile Creek Trail and sprayed my food rope with pepper spray. Later, I found out that they don't like it in their eyes, but they love eating it. Worst thing I could have done...
