High Sierra Topix

In well over 20 years in the Sierra, the only thing I would remotely describe as harassment was when a bear was trick or treating in Vidette Meadows. I figured it was on its way to my tent, because I heard shouting and commotion from the next tent over. I threw some stones towards it and that was the end of that. Of course, there are bear boxes in Vidette, but I've never had the slightest problem when I've hung food, stashed it on top of a class 3 rock, etc. I don't spend much time in Yosemite, which probably helps from a bear harassment perspective.

I saw a bear this year by Ebbetts Pass in early July. This is the second bear I have seen in that area in the last few years. The bear ran away so fast I couldn't get a picture. Thats what usually happens when I see a bear in the Sierras. Its there for a second, then its GONE!

Texan

I run into bears just about every trip - one trip it was 8 bears in 3 days. Northern Yosemite is where I run into most groups of bears. None have been food related. I run into them while I am hiking. The only food related encounter where a bear came into our camp was last year in the Wind RIvers in Wyoming. Many encounters have been on the trails. They like the easy walking on the trails just like we do. I may "encounter" more bears because I off-trail travel a lot and go solo and am always looking for them so I see early enough not to startle them. I also used to do a bit of hunting so my eyes seem to pick up any movement without much effort on my part. This last year doing Ropers High Route I only ran into one bear. This was the least bear visits of any year I have backpacked in the Sierra.

I don't recall seeing one in person this year. But my nights were way down.

Found fresh bear scat near our camp one morning (~50 yards) that was not there the night before. Fairly fresh tracks several times, but no actual encounters. Usually see one or two a year.

When camped in Paradise Valley in June, my wife and I were sitting by the river after dinner. A bear on the opposite site came down to the river. He moseyed around for a couple of minutes and sniffed the air to see what was cooking, then went back into the woods. A couple of nights later while car camping at Moraine Campground, my wife was rearranging things in the bear box while I was watching the moon rise over the rim of the canyon. She sensed something next to her, looked up, and there was a bear on the other side of the open door. She yelled and slammed the door shut. The bear hardly reacted. I shined a flashlight on the guy and he stayed by the bear box. So I ran at him shouting and he finally decided to lumber off down the road to harass someone else. The next morning when the rangers were doing their rounds and we told them about it, they wanted to know what color the bear was. They said there were at least three in the campground the night before and they wanted to determine which one was bold enough to almost crawl inside the bearbox while my wife was rearranging things.

In the real backcountry (versus the popular spots like Paradise Valley), the only bear I've seen in the last few years was while camped off-trail in the Upper Kern in 2007 at one of the larger lakes. Late in the afternoon I was sitting writing and I heard something. About 15 feet away a bear was making his way down to the lake. He obviously hadn't noticed me, the tent, or the bear can. I said "Hey!" and he took off running. They really are funny when they run.

Did not see any bears this year. Spent 36 days this summer backpacking in the Sierra, half of the time off trail. This is pretty typical; I might see 1 or 2 in a season, sometimes none.The only harrassment I got was from Inyo personnel when I picked up a permit. It seems some of them are un-informed as to bear canister required areas. I have studied the appropriate maps that display the canister required area for where I will be going into. Example...in Lone Pine, I was assured by permit people that Iva Bell HS is a canister required area. Disagreeing with them was to no avail. To get to Iva Bell I was also camping out of the req'd areas. Double checked when I got to Mammoth RS and after talking to 2 front desk people, finally got the correct answer.

I haven't seen a bear in the wild since 2000, and that was in Pacific Valley (Mokulumne drainage). A bear crossed Blue Lakes Rd in front of me in 2008. But I've been almost exclusively on the East Side. In my years at Upper Piute Mdw, I never saw a bear. In my years in the Golden Trout Wilderness, I saw 1 bear (trying to steal my horse's grain box - my dog barked and it ran off).

In all my years, the only times I've ever been bothered by bears were in Yosemite - Tuolumne Mdw twice and Lake Vernon once, and Trout Mdw (bear stealing my horse's grain box) once.

This year was a light year for bear sightings. I only saw one, at Lone Pine Lake.

Saw 2 bears (momma bear and cub) only a few miles away from Road's end :
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Had a less pleasant encounter with two more bears at upper paradise valley later that evening. later found out that one of the guys I hiked with had forgotten to take one energy shot or something similar out of his pack, so that was likely the cause.

Only bear encounter was in the frontcountry, at Porcupine Flat CG in Yosemite. Bear came through the campground after dark, hung around for an hour or so--chased away from one area, it'd come back in another.

Did see scat in the backcountry, but no bears.