Date: 2015-06-04
From: Fontana Dam Marina Rt. 28

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

My wife and daughters dropped me off at Rt. 28/Fontana Dam Marina at 11:30AM. We took a few photos, said our goodbyes, and I headed north towards Fontana Dam. Arrived at the Fontana Dam Hilton and took a short break. There were two other hikers there, one recovering from an ankle injury and they other taking a break for a few days. Got back on the trail and encountered my first black bear at about 2:00PM. We startled each other at about 10 yards distance. Looked like a mama bear in that she was not as large as a male, but plenty filled out and not an adolescent. She bolted away about 10 feet, stopped and turned around to look back at me, then continued to run off into the woods. Later that afternoon, ran across another female bear, under almost the same conditions and same results. As the sun was setting and I was still a few miles from Mollies Ridge Shelter, I ran across another mama bear, this time with two or three cubs. As I rounded a corner on the trail, her cubs were already up a tree and she was standing on her hind legs with her front paws up on that tree looking directly at me. I was about 25 yards away. When I have come across bears with cubs up a tree in the past, I have backed away out of sight, waited a few minutes and then continued my hike to find that the bear and her cubs were down the tree and no where in sight. This time as I rounded the corner again, I see the mother and her cubs still in the same area just milling around. The mother noticed me again, her cubs again scurried up the same tree, and again the mother stood on her hind legs supporting her front paws up on the tree. This time there was a lot of "gruffing" sounds while she slapped her left claws on the tree. The tree was about 20" in diameter, and it sounded hollow as her claws struck the tree and it echoed throughout the area. She was obviously agitated and was sending me a warning to back off. This time I decided to see if I could scare her off from my distance of about 25 yards. I retrieved my trusty emergency whistle and exhaled into it as hard as I could...she just looked at me and gave me another round of "gruffing" and claw slapping. That didn't work. I then took out my head lamp and turned on the red flashing lights. I figured this would really scare her as it was starting to get dark and the effects would send her and her cubs running deep into the woods. Well...she again just looked at me and gave me the same routine. It was getting late and I was making zero progress, so I felt I needed to keep moving. The trouble with continuing north is that the trail would come within about 10 yards of the tree that the bears were making their stand in and I already felt that the 25 yards distance was a little too close for comfort. The terrain on the opposite side of the trail as the bears was essentially impassable, so I had to stay on the trail as I moved forward. So as I approached she repeated her "gruffing" and claw slapping routine, I sang a soothing tune to attempt to show her I was not a threat. I sang what I called the "I'm coming thru, I'm coming thru" tune as I moved toward her. Her demeanor did not change as I approached and passed her position, but all I knew is that she did not charge me. As I moved past and away, I was somewhat relieved, but still a little shaken at what could have happened. I figured she would not pursue me at this point since she would not want to leave her cubs. It was now completely dark and I continued to move forward with my head lamp lighting the trail and blazes. Before I arrived at the shelter, I heard sounds off to my left just beyond the brush. My first thought was that it was another bear, but the sound it made was noticeably different. At 9:40PM I arrived at Mollies Ridge Shelter. It is a large shelter and was pretty crowed. Using my red light I found an opening on the second level and began to unpack my gear and prepare my sleeping space. A long first day back on the trail...too long for me on my first day back out on the trail.