Bears

Many, many years ago as a young boyscout, our troop went on a back pack trip in Yosemite. First night we slept in a campground in the valley in sleeping bags on the ground. In the middle of the night, I woke up, peaked out of my sleeping bag and saw a bear sniffing the face of my dad sleeping about 10 feet from me. I froze and seconds later the bear just wandered off into the woods. Scared me to death! My dad couldn't believe it when I woke him and told the story. None of us got much sleep the rest of the night!

I was pulling into a OHV staging area at the East end of the famous Rubicon Trail one morning. There were a few rigs there, mostly trucks with empty trailers. But there was this one van. Next to the passenger door was a man in a heavy coat and hood trying to break into the van through the vent window. As I got closer, I could see it wasn't a man at all, but a bear! I drove over for a closer look and the bear took off and climbed a tree in the lot. I pulled over to the tree and the bear had climbed maybe 5 feet or so higher than my window. I rolled down my window and started taking pictures. The bear must have freaked out about this time because it starting pissing and crapping itself right there in the tree. Suddenly it dropped to the ground and ran. It ran in a straight line. Along that line was an enclosed trailer. One of those thin aluminum jobs that some folks will haul their OHV's in. The bear it the side of that trailer, maybe 25' long, and went right though it and out the other side! I couldn't believe my own eyes! This bear, running full tilt, didn't even slow down when he hit that trailer. BAM! Punched quite a hole in it.
I later wrote a note and placed it on the truck's windshield so the guy would know what happened when he got back. I left another on the van where I first spotted the bear, so the guy would know how close his rig came to being pried open as well.

If you ever come across this again and there is a church close, climb a tree instead of going in the church. Moral of the story: Never run in a church with a bear behind. Have a great day

In Sequoia Nat'l Park three of us were sitting around a campfire. My wife sensed something beside her, when she looked to her right there was a brown bear just a few feet away from her. All three of us got to our feet and move to put the fire between us and the bear. I yelled and clapped my hands and the bear took off running right towards the open door of our trailer. Luckily the bear turned and headed down the road.

In Yosemite we were sleeping in a tent and we could hear a bear walk right by our tent over to the metal food box. It tried the lid on the box to see if it would open and then went on to the next campsite.

Good advice.
We had a near-bear experience in Yellowstone while sleeping in a tent (which you should never do).
After that, I always have my spray on me in the woods.