Bear Track and Crap, High Sierra, Yosemite Backcountry

Bear Track and Crap, High Sierra, Yosemite Backcountry.

I spotted many bear tracks climbing South out of Stubblefield Canyon South to Kerrick Canyon. And lots of fresh bear crap. The above was among the biggest, freshest sets of tracks.

 When I note indications of recent bear activity I get even more quiet and observant than normal. I don't want to surprize a bear, I want to spot it first, and watch it screw around.

Bears screw around  a lot. Bears are dead serious when dealing with things, but if there's nothing to deal with, bears are pretty chill characters.

After taking the shots above I encountered a bear kicking back. Bear was laying in a massive growth of shrubs, totally hidden from my sight as I passed 20 yards from the shrub.

Bear heard me coming, popped it's head up out of the underbrush, looked at me, and then hit the ground running. Away from me.  I figure bear had been eating well, judging by the healthy crap, and decided to take a nap between feasts.

The bear that spotted me was not big enough to make the track pictured above. It was a young adult, and had not yet put on the bulk required to make the massive print above.

Thus I could not observe the bear's activities first, unless I decided to take a nap in the shrubbery... and the speed of a fleeing bear made it impossible to get a picture.

Note: These images were taken at the beginning of October 2009. I had hiked this same trail earlier in July, and many other times during Summer and Fall. The bears in the North Yosemite Backcountry pretty much stay away from people and the trails during the peak of the Summer hiking season.

They will target backpacker and Trail Crew camps for food if it's easy for them, but other than that the bears stay away from the hikers and avoid using the trails. Things change during Fall.

You see, virtually every trail in the Sierra was created by the animals, used by the indians, and made into backpacking trails by Americans. The bears and animals are more than happy to take their trails back when the human traffic diminishes.

Late in the hiking season when the backpacker traffic slows to a trickle the bears start using the Pacific Crest Trail in the Yosemite backcountry.

I have noticed this fact during years of backpacking the Yosemite Backcountry. As Fall descends and the backpackers diminish, the wild bears come out and start using the trails, rather than traveling among rock and forest.

Trail Guide: Not Completed

Topo Map: Sonora Pass to Bensen Lake

Location on topo map: Between Stubblefield and Kerrick Canyons, on the climb South out of Stubblefield Canyon.