Black Bears – White Mountains, NH
Bluff charges and tent ransacking are the topic of discussion these days. There have been reports of bears causing trouble for hikers and campers throughout the White Mountains, New Hampshire.
Recently bears raided the Thirteen Falls Campsite in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. They entered hiker’s tents and got away with food. A couple that experienced the raid stated the bears were not frightened by humans.
Many hikers carry Bear Spray by Counter Assault which works on all animals.
Be careful out there!
Resolution Shelter Closed
June 21, 2010
Just read the Resolution Shelter in the Dry River Wilderness of the White Mountains, NH has been closed. It has been deemed unsafe. I am surprised it lasted this long. This shelter has been in bad shape for a number of years.
Over the years it seemed like every time I stayed at this shelter it was in blizzard conditions or in some form of bad weather. Another shelter that is going to be missed!
You can read the announcement here
Enjoy!
Pemigewasset Wilderness – Unattended Campfire
Sunday, I spent the day deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness doing research and verifying information on the old East Branch & Lincoln Logging Railroad. It was a wonderful day, but what I stumbled upon caught me completely off guard.
As I worked my way along the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River (near Thoreau Falls / Wilderness Trail junction) I came across a campsite with a fire pit. This is pretty normal and I have found numerous campsites with fire pits, but what was different with this campsite is the FIRE was still going and the site was vacant!
I hesitated for a second thinking I walked into someone’s campsite, but after looking around it was clear they were gone. The camper / campers pulled the blanket of moss from the top of the boulder and stuffed it into and over the fire pit. They must have done this thinking it would put out the fire.
After pulling all the moss off the fire pit and throwing it into the river it was clear the embers were still burning! The rocks around the fire pit were so hot I couldn’t even touch them! I used one of my Sea to Summit bags as a bucket to put the fire out. I hung around for twenty or so minutes to make sure the fire was out.
The site looked to be of a soloists, but I could be wrong. It is pretty scary to think what the outcome could have been if I didn’t come across this campsite. This location is very deep in the Pemi and a fire would do major damage.
A few links on back-country camping & fire:
Click here to see what Smokey the Bear says about putting a fire out:
Click here for Back-country camping regulations in the Pemigewasset Wilderness
Better back-country ethics would be appreciated…..
