Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Got bears?

Are black bears prevalent in the portal area year-round? Is there a particular time of the year when they are more common?

You can pretty much figure that they are present every day that people are camping in the vicinity, which would include all the time except the middle of winter.

At the campground, one walked into the site next to us and then started to walk over to us. We scared/shooed it away. It went to another site, saw an open bear locker with food, dashed into it and ran away with a bag of marshmellows. Lesson: don't leave the bear locker open even when you are in camp.

I was in the Portal in October and one walked right past me at 2:30 in the morning. I didn't even see it. Another hiker asked me if I saw the bear that walked right next to me. It was my 3rd sighting in the Sierra's that weekend. They love the fish guts and heads that the fishermen put in the trash.

Hi Bears are walking around the Portal right now , I think maybe maybe three. Like GROUNDHOG DAY LAST WEEK THE FOOD CAME NOW THE BEARS. Thanks Doug

I'm in trouble... I left a WPS Pancake in my car and now it smells like the kitchen in the morning. Bears are going to be tracking me for the rest of the year.

Speaking of bears, I was hiking last Friday (a week ago) and ran across a bear about 1 mile south of Owens saddle on the PCT. We had just finished lunch at the saddle when a through hiker came by and warned us of a mother and two cubs on the trail. We stayed as alert as possible but even so we came about 5-10 feet from the bear. The bear was in some brush on the upslope side of the PCT and we didn't see it until it popped out of the brush and headed up slope. We didn't see the cubs. I knew bears are always in the area but was suprised to see them on the eastern most range there - its pretty dry. It was a good size bear, full brown coat. I am not certain what the lesson was as we were alert.... but they are out there. (Like the X-files slogan)

Richard, just keep your menu simple. Harvey

A rich and varied diet is for people who have no work to do.
Roald Amundsen
First Man to the South Pole

Two years ago, immediately after the Portal Road opened, I was getting ready for a dayhike, and stowed some items in a steel locker. As I closed the door, I commented to a fellow nearby that it was so early in the season I probably didn't need to worry about the bears being out. He replied, to the effect "I work in the backcountry, and we see bears all winter long. Assume that they're out".

So, I guess not all of them hibernate, or if so, it's not a long hibernation? Personally, I've never seen bear tracks on snow in mid-winter in the Eastern Sierra, but if this fellow was believable, then some remain active all year.