Thinking of camping in a national forest...but afraid of bears!

[PRINCESS VIJA]

On our trip next year, we are thinking of camping in the Sequioa National park, and at the Grand Canyon. However I read that the Sequioa park is in black bear country and they have very specific requirements for campers. EVEN toothpaste and deoderant need to be locked up! I think it would be beautiful to camp there, however the threat of bears really scares me. I guess you never know what french fry has fallen between the seats in the car, bear comes to investigate and now you have a bear maulling you in the tent.

Anyone have experiences to share that might calm my fears???

 

[monkeyboy]

no picinic baskets no bears
Ranger Smith told me that

 

[cynsaun]

 

[mommytotwo]

Maybe you should just go there to visit and consider camping somewhere else or getting a trailer.

 

[oldkicker]

We've camped with bears in the Adirondacks and I won't minimize the precautions you need to take.

We had to pack everything away in our car and even hide the coolers as the bears can recognize them.

You should even change clothes before sleeping from the clothes you cooked/ate in.

Even with those precautions, we did have a couple of nights with visitors in our site.

I honestly don't know how active the beara population is in Sequoia, but if you have any doubts, you might want to heed mommytotwo's advice.

 

[perdidobay]

I've been camping out west since I was a kid... and had several "visits" from black bears. Yes it's hard to keep everything put up, and at Yellowstone, we couldn't even have water sitting out.
But I've never felt afraid for my life.
Common sense will go a long way to having a safe trip!

 

[minniepumpernickel]

I would be more worried if I were camping in grizzly country. I love camping, although I complain about it a lot.

Look at the statistics too, the amount of Black bear attacks must be pretty low!

 

[Sonya]

We go to Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone/Tetons a lot. Even with spooty neighbors who leave out their food all night we have never had any problem. Like minniepumpernickel said, I would be more worried if they were grizzly.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>We've camped at Sequoia/Kings Canyon several times. We have seen many bears, deer, squirrels, marmots, pikas, etc., and have never had any trouble. I'm a single mom, and have taken my kids to Yosemite & Sequoia just about every year for over ten years now, and many times we tent camped. We usually stay at Lodgepole or Dorst, and have also stayed at Cedar Creek.

I did have to chase a bear out of our camp area one night because someone had not secured the bear box, and the bear was having a wonderful time "shopping" for food. I was cautious enough to wake the people camped next to us to help me chase it away.

As long as you abide by the rules, you won't have any problems. One thing I'm pretty compulsive about, is to make sure that nothing can be misconstrued as a candy wrapper, cooler, etc., inside of the car. --- My SIL & her husband thought I was being too cautious until we woke one morning & saw the bear prints on their van.

In the park history, no one has ever been killed by a black bear, and I don't think anyone has been mauled, either.

I highly recommend this park - it's beautiful, home to the largest living thing on earth, and you'll have a wonderful experience there.

Did a search & found the links to my trip reports, if you'd care to read them.

Scroll down to get to the trip report itself, including pics.
Sequoia Trip -- 2000

I have another trip report from 2002, but can't find it right now. I'll include it when I can.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by oldkicker
We've camped with bears in the Adirondacks and I won't minimize the precautions you need to take.

We had to pack everything away in our car and even hide the coolers as the bears can recognize them.

You should even change clothes before sleeping from the clothes you cooked/ate in.

Even with those precautions, we did have a couple of nights with visitors in our site.

I honestly don't know how active the beara population is in Sequoia, but if you have any doubts, you might want to heed mommytotwo's advice.

Absolutely true.

If you are going into the backcountry, you should buy a book that tells you all you should do to protect yourself and the bears...The new slogan at the National Parks is....

A fed bear is a dead bear..

If a bear gets too familiar with humans by being fed (either voluntarily or involuntarily), they will have to be put down..
as stated above, bears are very smart-they know by sight and smell where your food is. If you don't feel like you can keep them out, reconsider. And DON'T sleep with anything that smells-deodorant, toothpaste, candy bars....

 

[mtblujeans]

Bears are to be taken very seriously. I agree with the post that you might want to stay elsewhere if you are unsure you can meet the requirements in the park. There are usually motels nearby and you can spend the day in the park. Even cooking outdoors will put food odors on you and your clothing. Use common sense to help you decide what makes your trip most comfortable for you.

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Thanks for the words of advice and warning! I would absolutely LOVE to spend the night in the park, but even with taking all of the precautions, and believe you me, I would be completely psycho about doing so, I doubt I would sleep a wink just worrying about the possibility.

What about the Grand Canyon? We will be there too, and I think that would be a great place to tent camp as well.

 

[perdidobay]

Not to scare you, but camping at the Grand Canyon was where I picked up a shirt inside our tent to find a scorpion crawling around
But there's always something to watch out for in nature!

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

a SCORPIAN!! You've got to be kidding me!

I think I am really going to have to be vigilant about this trip, and do tons of research!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by PRINCESS VIJA
a SCORPIAN!! You've got to be kidding me!

I think I am really going to have to be vigilant about this trip, and do tons of research!

Make sure you look inside your hiking boots before you put them on in the morning, all kinds of things could be in there.

Just a side note (possibly TMI for the men-sorry guys) but DH bought me a book years ago when he thought I was actually going to start backpacking with him (yeah, right) entitled "Wild Woman", about women backpacking. The book said that one of the things that can attract bears is the scent of a woman during her cycle...Not that the bear would attack or anything, it just may get them curious...!

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Aren't the scorpion stings only as painful as a bee sting? They aren't like the kind of scorpion that will kill ya, right?

I actually envy you. I want to go camping in Yellowstone, and I want to do it before it gets too cold. Grand Canyon would be so beautiful! It'll be worth putting up with the scary wildlife just for the view. Take lots of pictures, for us!

 

[rhanditresmom]

We often go camping and have camped at the Grand Canyon. Other than the heat of the day (it is cool at night) and the lovely red dust, we had no problems. We would do it again. As for bears, we have camped in a couple of "bear areas" and have had no problems. At Big Bend (in TX) bear boxes are provided at the campsites. We just made sure we used them. Good luck to you and have fun!