Originally Posted by
spinnaker
I have been on the GAP dozens of times and have never seen a bear on the trail. In fact, I have been living in PA for 60 years and have never seen a bear here. Not that they don't exist, they do but raccoons are your bigger worry.
And in my yard it is chipmunks. They have taken over the yard.
If you need a place to stay or want a tour of Pittsburgh let me know. Happy to help if I am around.
I live in Monroeville and currently, there is a bear in the area. They are definitely around along the GAP, but rarely seen.
I hang the bag I carry food in. I carry line on which a have a lead weight, and throw the weight over a branch and hoist the food bag up off the ground, and far enough down from any branches so raccoons cannot get into it as well.
I just got home last night from a tour, and my first night out, I had finished eating, and went to the bathroom before I cleaned up and hung the bag. I was cleaning utensils in the bathroom. By the time I got back, a raccoon had already chewed a hole in my bag, and proceeded to open and eat an entire cinnamon roll out of the bag. Crafty little suckers and bold as well. I was only gone a few minutes.