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

2 friends and I will be day-hiking the main whitney trail for the 1st time on 07/07/05. We plan to begin very early in the morning, with probably 4-5 hours of nighttime hiking. I was wondering if anyone has any info/advice on the frequency of bear spottings on Whitney, particularly at night. I was in Lone Pine over the winter and hiked up part of Portal Road beyond the road closure signs up to one of the campgrounds, and I noticed several signs about it being an "active bear area." It seems natural that bears would be drawn to food sources, but how often are they seen away from campgrounds on the trail? Is this a concern to anyone? Other than trying to avoid sneaking up on a bear (which seems like it could happen much more easily at night), if you do run into one, any advice on persuading him (or her) to leave you alone? I know that with a shark you are supposed to punch it in the nose, but I have not heard that about bears...

Bears are active in the Whitney Portal area but they are still wary of humans. As long as food stuffs are adequately secured in bear lockers and/or kept with you, you should have no problems. You are more likely to see them within the immedate Portal and Portal Campground areas than anywhere else if at all.

Walk the trail as though you were walking to your corner pub, if you happen to come upon one, they will likely run away from you. Some will say there is danger if there are cubs around with their mother but the number of these types of confrontations are few and far in between.

And now for the most important question, if you are close enough to be able to punch a bear in the nose, it needs to be a straight right hand. An upper cut or jab will not help. Seriously, if you get real close, yell loudly and wave your arms to frighten off the bear. Do not run away, show strength and not fear.

Bears were very active last summer in the portal campground. Members of our group heard bears walking around their tents and sniffing around. If you stay there, be sure that the bear lockers are shut completely when not in use. See the post that was made last year by somebody losing his <A href="http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002271">camera</A>.

Joel D - My wife and I have dayhiked Whitney four times, each with a predawn start. We have never seen a bear. We do make a point of keeping up a conversation and letting our equipment jangle so any bears will hear us coming and split. I've been reading this board for five years and can remember only three stories of night bear encounters on the trail. Two went something like "a bear ran across the trail". On one, a bear was sitting in the trail and took a couple of minutes to move away. The Portal campgrounds are a different matter because bears are attracted there by the smell of food.

Regarding bears and the Portal, I also agree that the remote chance of ever encountering a bear on this trail are very slim at best. At night in the campgrounds is another matter. Bears are a sneaky creature and chances are that they will come by, sniff, nose around your camp, explore, and be off without your ever hearing a thing.
Food left out or bear boxes unclosed securely (as was mentioned) is another matter.
My main concern here is the matter of unattended cars while hiking and the bears looking inside,- seeing an ice chest... well you know the rest. Cover up all ice chests and leave no trash in your car if you are gone for a few days. There was a thread a few years back here about hanging mothballs on the inside of the car using an old a sock-( near a car window) to discourage them. I do not know if it works or not but, the last time we did the Horseshoe to Portal 6 day trip, my buddy followed all these suggestions, hung a mothball sock (while I laughed), and had no problems at all- except for the big dirty bear footprint on the driver's side window which we discovered when we returned.

I've got some pictures of cars that were parked in the portal area where people left food inside.

One of the cars looked like a tin can after somebody took a can opener to it.

I also made a point of taking pics of the cute bear paw prints on the hood.

If somebody would like to post these pics, put your e-mail address in this thread and I will send them to you, but only if you agree to post them here.

How about bears and dogs? Our group will be camping at Whitney Portal before the big hike. One of our hikers would like to bring his labrador retriever. Is this asking for trouble?

quadrick - If your friend's dog decides to chase a bear, the bear will kill the dog.

Inyo N.F. rules for dogs are cut and pasted here:

Can I have my dog in the campground or on a trail?

Traditionally, National Forests have welcomed dogs. However there are a few rules that apply to assure that you and other National Forest visitors have an enjoyable outdoor recreation experience. If you are camping with your pet, please practice the following (these rules will be enforced in developed recreation areas and wilderness areas):

Leave vicious or unusually noisy dogs at home.
During the day keep your dog on a leash no more than 6 feet long, or otherwise restrict its freedom to roam at will.
At night keep your dogs and other pets inside an enclosed vehicle or in a tent.
Developed campgrounds are for people, not animals. Please do not bring more than two dogs or other pet to any one campsite.

quadrick,

In addition, if you hiker friend plans to bring a dog along, what is the plan for the dog during the hike? While you see the USFS guidelines above, the upper part of the trail is in Sequoia National Park. At Trail Crest there is a sign saying "Pets and firearms prohibited." Your friend probably will be better off not bringing a dog along.

quadrick,

I have two Golden Retreivers that hike weekly with me. They are very accustomed to 10,000 ft and greater elevations. However, I do not take them on hikes longer than 10 - 15 miles at high elevations. Dogs do not have the reasoning skills we do and they will go, go, go just to please their master. I have a friend that once had to carry his Golden down from Santiago Peak in Orange County California because the dog was exhausted and had injured it's paw pads.

I fully realize some people have taken dogs up the MR, at least one I am aware of this past winter, but I would consider it cruel and unusual punishment to take mine on a Whitney round trip. That's my choice I know.

Memory Lapse -- Back in July of 2002, my son and I were headed up the Holy Jim Trail towards Santiago Peak when we came upon a couple -- the guy was carrying a golden retriever on his shoulders. We gave them half a liter of our water for the dog. (Making something of a leap) we are glad to hear that the dog was ok!

there were some pictures in LA times "outdoors" section about bears and damage to camps (june 28th). the pix were an interesting sidenote to this thread, but there was no accompanying article or discussion about bear activity or where action in photos took place, other than "sierras." might be able to see them on LA times web version, though you might have to cough up an email and register.