Canadian Bears

[REF]

We traveled up through the Canadian Rockies and throughout Alaska last summer and didn't have any close encounters with bears, even though we spotted them nearby, were often in close proximity to bear country, we were mostly in campgrounds though but several nights we just pulled off somewhere and popped the top. We made sure we kept things tidy and didn't leave any food laying around or in the open inside the van, and any packages of food that were opened was put in zip locks inside the fridge or put inside snap bin storage containers. Just be smart about things and most likely you won't have any issues.
Side note: We were amazed at how some locals up in AK left their campsites, coolers left out, dirty pots/pans, stoves, garbage. They kept the campground host and the local authorities busy for sure with frequent warnings and sometime eviction, crazy! The worst offenders we saw were at Mendenhall glacier campground, while it was a very nice campground, with it's proximity to Juneau apparently it's a common problem with homeless people getting free camping gear, paying a night, staying several and then abandoning everything. We saw the cops haul off more than one site worth of gear that was just left behind.

[ert01]

I live in Alberta and I frequent both national park campgrounds in the Rockies and I also do a lot of backcountry camping.

Sleeping in anything hard sided is very new to me. I used to travel quite light and the only reason I've adopted a van is because I have a wife and 2 small daughters now.

I usually use a small 2man tent for camping but I have also slept in a lean-to, hammock, bivy bag or even just a tarp before and I have had 0 trouble with bears. Even in Alaska.


Bears are not a concern for 99.999% of the time. They are usually hungry in the springtime when they wake up so that is when most bear incidents will happen.

And usually it happens because of poor campsite habits on behalf of the campers. The bears have little to no interest in eating you and they are the same as any other wild animal... They're usually far more scared of us than we are of them.

The trouble occurs when sloppy campers leave food out or dirty dishes. This scent attracts the bears... The issue though is when the bear is rooting through your site, he might happen to step on your tent and wake you up... Startled people = startled bears and startled bears = hurt people.

Best advice is to do your dishes before bed and don't store raw bacon on your countertop. And even if you do, you'll likely hear the bear bumping the sides of your van long before he figures out there is a soft tent on top. Hit the horn or flash the lights to scare him away. He won't tear though your van to get you. It's late in the year so he's not super hungry and there's easier meals for him to get than your bacon scraps inside a metal van.

[reelchef67]

Hi I live in bear,cougar,coyote, you name it country and north vancouver.
The used to always tent when i went on whitewater kayak trips in a lot of remote areas.
I never worried too much just kept clean campsite , etc etc
The big issue is what kind of bear. Black bears and grizzliea are very different in behaviour.
Blacks bears are generally nothing to worry about if keep food in car clean tent nothing but water alllowed intent ie no toothpaste etc.
Grizzlies are far more dangerous and simply will not tent or ride in grizzly country.
I have traverse pop top van and i feel just fine slepping with the top up however I have had a serious talk with her in regards to what if.
What if a bear decides get nosey and stand up. She is not allowed anything bulky(clothing bage etc) that would stop us from closing the roof in a hurry.
She knows if she sees a bear sniffing around the campsite to climb down quietly and wake me up so we can close the top.
At age 12 she is almost as tall as her mom and has bigger feet than her ,she can already close it herself
I ride about 800=1000 miles a year on my mountainbike here on the north shore and it is all blacks bears here. There has been a huge spike in cougar sightings and "interactions". So far I think at least 4 have had to be shot due to climbing on apartment building balconies , killing dogs and stalking people. Big cats 200+ lbs
They have six sides of which five are lethal...

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by reelchef67

Hi I live in bear,cougar,coyote, you name it country and north vancouver.
The used to always tent when i went on whitewater kayak trips in a lot of remote areas.
I never worried too much just kept clean campsite , etc etc
The big issue is what kind of bear. Black bears and grizzliea are very different in behaviour.
Blacks bears are generally nothing to worry about if keep food in car clean tent nothing but water alllowed intent ie no toothpaste etc.
Grizzlies are far more dangerous and simply will not tent or ride in grizzly country.
I have traverse pop top van and i feel just fine slepping with the top up however I have had a serious talk with her in regards to what if.
What if a bear decides get nosey and stand up. She is not allowed anything bulky(clothing bage etc) that would stop us from closing the roof in a hurry.
She knows if she sees a bear sniffing around the campsite to climb down quietly and wake me up so we can close the top.
At age 12 she is almost as tall as her mom and has bigger feet than her ,she can already close it herself
I ride about 800=1000 miles a year on my mountainbike here on the north shore and it is all blacks bears here. There has been a huge spike in cougar sightings and "interactions". So far I think at least 4 have had to be shot due to climbing on apartment building balconies , killing dogs and stalking people. Big cats 200+ lbs
They have six sides of which five are lethal...

Not as lethal as dentists. They seem to have 6 lethal sides.

[Zeta]

No Molson or Lablatts?
http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/ca/

Z

[larrie]

Today's, 8/2/15, Bizarro comic, http://bizarro.com, speaks to this topic.