Adventure Riding

Seems to be a very popular form of riding as of late. I mean, if some of the major manufacturers use it in naming their bikes it must be gaining traction. I would even argue that it's starting to detract from the odd draw that Harley has on the Baby Boomers. For me, being closer to 60 than to 50 and coming from a dirt bike-sport bike past, it seems to be a natural progression. Anyway, just musing as I prepare for my next Adventure ride to the Northern Lands of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming where you can actually sleep on the ground in Grizzly Bear country. Who needs speed for an exhilarating experience...

I actually do keep a bottle of bear spray in my tank bag. To tell the truth, though, it's less for the bears than for crazy people on the road. I've never camped in grizzly country, but spent plenty of time in black bear country - which is pretty much everywhere with lots of woods.

It's probably worth spending some time talking about basic safety issues in this or other threads. For bears, the most important rule is simple - don't keep food in your tent. Black bears are generally non-aggressive, even shy. But a bear can and will bore a hole in your tent to access a jelly donut. So will skunks, raccoons, ants, etc.

It's probably worth spending some time talking about basic safety issues in this or other threads. For bears, the most important rule is simple - don't keep food in your tent. Black bears are generally non-aggressive, even shy. But a bear can and will bore a hole in your tent to access a jelly donut. So will skunks, raccoons, ants, etc

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Good point. This will actually be my third trip to this area for a week of camping off the bike. The local explained it best right from the get-go. "You're now at ground zero for all things with teeth! Carry your bear spray everywhere you go." He also explained the importance of being sanitary with my food and not spilling it on my cloths, as well as keeping it out of the area we're sleeping in and hanging it in a tree at night.

I've only seen one bear on these trips and when I told my wife about it, she asked me if I had been wearing my bear spray. Bless her heart...

These were common sites in the public camp grounds and very handy, but also very sobering when you realize they put them there for a reason.

Happened across a bear on Old Mountain Page Road south of Saluda NC a couple years ago. Took Gap Creek Road off US25 between Tuxedo NC and Cleveland SC the year before that, rounded a corner, and met a bear, maybe 75 feet between us. Saw a sow with two cubs on US276 just north of Blue Ridge Parkway a couple years before that. I've been riding and driving the Dark Corners region for close to 50 years and only saw one bear the first 45.

Saw something amongst the scrub oaks near the north end of the gravel part of Pinto Canyon Road Looked like the back of a bear or the back side of a buffalo, couldn't really tell because moving fast through thick brush, but too big and too fury to be anything else.

There definitely seem to be a lot more bears than there used to be. Big cats, too. Seen a couple the past few years and used to not see any.

It works better if you take it out of the plastic...

you throw it at the bear to eat.

seriously tho, i've heard news blips and from a friend in alaska that the bears are more prevalent and aggressive this year. maybe they woke up too early and are not 'morning creatures'.

Hopefully you are carrying your Federally required Bear Food Containers when traveling in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

I hear there is a 'reward' for turning in scofflaws and law breakers. Where's that anonymous crime stopper number???

jfink said:

Hopefully you are carrying your Federally required Bear Food Containers when traveling in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

I hear there is a 'reward' for turning in scofflaws and law breakers. Where's that anonymous crime stopper number???

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About half the trip will be in those areas on their map. I am pretty sure all the camp grounds have those steel boxes for food storage. For those that did not, we used ropes to hang food from high branches outside our camp area.

When in bear country, ride a Harley. The little bells make the bears aware of your presence and most bears are shy and sneak away. Pin a couple of those little bells to your clothes just to be on the safe side. On the other hand, there are hungry bears. Best way to figure out if there are bears with bad attitudes in your area is to find a sample of bear scat or two. If nothing in the scat except twigs, seeds, crushed bees, the occasional bone of a scavenged deer, etc., no worries. However, if there are little bells in the scat, and it smells like bear repellant, big worries, unless you can out run someone else on the scene. You see, nobody can out sprint a bear--bears are extremely quick. However, unless you are alone, you won't have to outrun a bear, you only have to outrun whomever you are with.