Bear encounter (2) Sep 5, 2006
Another wonderful thing that happened on my recent hiking trip was a bear encounter.  This website says that bear encounters usually happen in two places on the Appalachian Trail:  In the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Wawayanda Shelter area in New Jersey.  They're right about at least one of those places. 

I started hiking at about 5:10pm on Friday.  At around 7:15, the trail crossed another trail.  As I was walking, I saw a black bear run away from me to my right side.  I was a little spooked, but I thought, "Yay, my first bear encounter on the heavily-bear-populated section of the AT."  In order to make noise, I shook my key chain and clapped my hands.  I continued on the trail, but as I looked over my shoulder, I noticed the bear was following me.  Not running or growling or anything, but following me.  A 250-lb black bear was following me in the middle of the woods near Vernon, NJ.  I backed away from the bear and continued on the trail (backwards) as I panicked and tried to think of something to do.  I continued making loud noises and tried yelling.  The bear kept following me.  I blew a little high-powered compressed air horn, which promptly ran out of air after 2 seconds of use (I had used it in the past).  The bear might've been slightly concerned, but it continued to follow me.  I kept walking on the trail, hoping the bear would lose interest or get spooked by something.  After a little while, I didn't think it was on my tail anymore.  I saw some "bear skat" (what nature dorks call poop) on the trail and stopped to take a picture of it, just in case some hikers found my lifeless body -- maybe they could piece together my last few moments.  After I took the picture, I looked back and saw the bear coming towards me.  So I tried making some more noises and continued walking quickly on the trail, thinking about how stupid it was to stop and take a picture of bear poop while a live bear was chasing me.  For a good 10 minutes, this bear followed me at a distance of about 40 feet.  After a while, I guess it got sick of me and wandered off the trail and into the woods.  For the next mile or so until the Wawayanda Shelter, I kept looking over my shoulder and making as much noise as possible (which is stupid seeing that it didn't help in the first place), all the while walking as quickly as I could.  I finally made it to the shelter just before I needed to use a headlamp, and I almost hugged the other people at the shelter (except that they were guys and they stank). 

All in all, it was pretty predictable:  A bear encounter in the Wawayanda Shelter area at dusk.  I thought about it for several hours after that.  I think I decided what I should've done:  I should've walked away more slowly because running or quick walking encourages bears to follow or chase.  I should've made some loud noises and put my arms above my head (or at least that's what some websites said) so that I looked "big and threatening".  As soon as that failed (which I bet is about 50/50), I should've dropped to the ground in the fetal position with my bag on and wrapped my arms around the back of my neck to try to protect my jugular and other vital things.  As this whole fiasco was happening, I didn't really feel like the bear wanted to kill me.  Sometimes I feel like my cat wants to kill me.  But I think this bear just wanted to check me out, maybe sniff me and figure out what I was doing walking through the woods.  I could be completely wrong about that, but it's my theory.  Either way, I hope I never see another bear again.  To all the websites that said "the bear will probably run away", thanks a lot.  Buncha jerks. #nature
More thoughts on hiking Sep 5, 2006
I went hiking again this past weekend.  It was a disaster.  Here are some things I learned: 

1.  Distance:  I did 26 miles in one day.  It was definitely overkill.  I would say that a maximum comfortable distance to do in one day is 15-18 miles. 

2.  Weather:  It rained for 18 of those 26 miles.  The rain itself wasn't too bad because I was carrying 40 lbs on my back and walking up and down mountains.  I couldn't tell the difference between my sweat and the rain.  But I got really cold as soon as I stopped for a break.  Solution:  Keep going.  But when I finally did stop for the night, rain got in my tent and got my sleeping bag and clothes soaking wet.  There's no way I could've slept another night in a cold, wet sleeping bag.  In the future, I'd be happy to call off the trip in the event of inclement weather.  It's just not worth it. 

3.  Time:  Even though the sun doesn't officially set until around 7:30pm, it starts getting dark in the middle of the woods about an hour before that.  And a headlamp and an air horn in the middle of the dark wilderness is hardly any consolation.  For future reference, stopping at around 6 or 6:30pm is probably a good idea. 

4.  Starting the trip off with a few miles at night wasn't as good of an idea as it sounded.  After walking 5 miles to my campsite on Friday night, I was tired, but nowhere near tired enough to get a good night's sleep on the hard ground. 

5.  Waterproof everything.  The next pair of shoes I buy will be waterproof.  I'll keep my eyes peeled for a waterproof sleeping bag.  A waterproof backpack cover might be a good idea.  And I'm not talking water resistant.  I'm talking waterproof.  [Update (2006-09-15 1:43pm):  They don't make waterproof sleeping bags, but they do make waterproof stuff sacks which come in a variety of sizes, able to fit a sleeping bag, clothes, etc.] 

6.  Quick-drying clothes are good, but they won't dry off if it's cold and/or wet outside.  However, if you have to put on wet clothes, it's better to put on some lightweight, quick-drying clothes as opposed to some sponge-like cotton monstrosities.  Plus, body heat quickly warms up the moisture in quick-drying clothes. #sports