6ix
Posts:485
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| 06/13/2020 01:18 PM |
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They would typically close the Blue Ridge Parkway to cars during the winter months from north Asheville all the way past Mt. Mitchell. Was awesome but also dangerous because there would be a lot of debris on the road (tree limbs, rocks, bears, deep snow and a lot of black ice.) The tunnels were particularly sketchy. But I was more worried about the fact that there were times that I was probably 10+ miles minimum from any other human being. Sounds great but it's risky. And zero cell reception. Proceed with caution. Same goes for the Mt. Evans climb now. There won't be any park rangers patrolling the area. I just worry about that.
Maybe I'll just drive there some day and run it. Bring a backpack or something for all my winter-weather gear so that I don't die. And take it VERY easy on the descent. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 06/13/2020 05:41 PM |
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| Yes, the BRP also closes up at the northern end in the winter, sometimes for months at a time, but that's a different experience, with debris on the road, cold, no wildflowers and little visible wildlife. 15-20 years ago cross country skiing was occasionally an option, but it's been to warm since. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/13/2020 06:55 PM |
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Posted By Frederick Jones on 06/12/2020 05:45 PM
occasional black bear cubs (cute!), deer etc.
Careful now. My kid and his friends had an up close encounter with momma bear last weekend.
Instead of back away slowly they ran like hell. Teens LOL. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 06/13/2020 07:21 PM |
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| Our eastern black bears, fortunately, are the opposite of aggressive. Still, we don't do stupid stuff. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 06/13/2020 08:18 PM |
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| Bears are smart and know how to get in and make a huge mess. Stupid stuff includes leaving one's car unlocked. No bird feeders except during hibernation. Never leave garbage accessible to a bear. This must all sound quaint to my western fellow forumites who live with bears as potential human killers. Just ain't an issue here. That said, a black bear did kill or seriously injure an exceptionally dumb asian tourist trying for a selfie with a bear hug a few years back. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/14/2020 01:00 AM |
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Black bears aren’t human killers either out west. But they will fiercely protect their young (hence the careful now) and may be aggressive when surprised. A cub sighting typically means figure out where’s the mom and remove yourself from scene in short order but calmly.
The other week there was an incident of a predatory black bear attack in the interior here. But there’s only been 56 deadly attacks since 1900 so it remains extremely rare. Pretty much same deal with grizzlies (brown bears). I’ve had a couple recent rides in grizzly bear country. Some of the more remote areas remain closed until mid June to give them their peace during cub season. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 06/14/2020 08:14 PM |
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Grizzlies are scary mofos to be avoided by us two wheelers!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/14/2020 08:39 PM |
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Grizzlies are a fact of life around here. They’re more aggressive than black bears but will still tend to avoid humans if they can. Looks like last year there was two attacks, one of the usual mom protecting cubs, in the other case it was a mountain biker who startled bear. Both survived but biker was mauled pretty good.
Last Friday we may have spotted a grizzly in woods, at least my ride buddy thought so. Two weeks before that I was coming down a hill and heard something that I imagine a cub could sound like followed by trashing in woods. Fortunately enough downhill speed that I never figured out what that was.
Moose remains most dangerous animal followed by black widow spider, rattlesnake, cougar, polar, grizzly. Still remember almost being trampled by a moose out east many years ago. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/15/2020 09:34 AM |
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Did you guys see this clip of a 12 YO who came across a bear in Italy? Kid kept his cool!!
https://twitter.com/fox5dc/status/1265685626915106816?s=20 |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/15/2020 10:43 AM |
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That is the way to back out although I don't think the parent is meant to be filming the entire time.
Bear getting on its hind legs couple times is just to check out what is going on and create a field of vision. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/16/2020 02:43 PM |
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We're a long ways away from "race category" but this just showed in my newsfeed...lovely read, Grand Tetons area.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/this-bear-is-one-of-the-oldest-grizzlies-in-the-wild-and-she-just-had-4-new-cubs-1.5612550 |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 06/16/2020 07:38 PM |
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| Very cool kid! |
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