A Bear Attack...kind of.

Deep Gap, Georgia.

At each gap is a climb up the other side of a mountain or hill of some kind and at some, like at Deep Gap, there is a little placard where park rangers can leave notices for hikers and campers about trail conditions, hazards or other things hikers need to know about.

This placard had a sign that said the following:

"Attention Hikers:

A Bear has been stealing packs between... (Basically a 10 miles section of the A.T.). This bear has been aggressive and has shown no fear of humans. Please be advised to use bear proofing techniques.

--- The District Ranger."

Ok, so this was disconcerting as I was hiking by myself. About every half mile past this sign was a little diamond shaped sign that said, "North Carolina Wildlife Bear Sanctuary." I hiked at a brisk pace to make sure I got to the next shelter before dark when all the man-eating bears come out to feed on unsuspecting fleshy hikers. When I reached the top of the mountain, I was on a 30 inch wide trail with sheer cliff to my left and a 150 foot dropoff to my right. There was no place to go when the pack of bears attacked.

As I reached the top, I heard a loud, gutteral growling noise from around the corner. I stopped dead in my tracks and almost wet myself. The only defense I had was a can of pepper spray but which I lost a couple weeks earlier so I braced myself for either a death-by-bear or a fall off the cliff.

A minute later, one of my hiker friends rounded the corner with a big proud grin on his face pointing his finger at me and saying, "Haha...Muddyshoes...I got ya!!"

Needless to say, I was not amused and shouted, "Dude...that was so...not cool!!"

But after a few minutes I laughed and was thankful that it wasn't a hungry bear on a rampage.

Ah...the people you meet on the trail.