Bear at Willow Lake

[joeygoat9]

I'm planning on heading up to Willow Lake tomorrow to do Challenger and KC and have seen some condition reports indicating there's a bear roaming the campsites at Willow Lake. Obviously we will follow all proper protocol and will be bringing a canister and spray. For anyone who has been up there recently: is this bear situation as bad as the one at Lake Como a few years back? E.g. "leave my tent unzipped so the bear doesn't tear it apart" kind of bad. If this bear situation is getting out of hand like it did at Como I will just avoid the area for the time being.

-Joe

[wombat]

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The bear I saw there ~10 days ago appears to be looking for human food but seemed to be docile- we watched it attempt to shake a tree for some hung bear food. The campsite in question was well below most of the campsites near the lake. Dont know if the bear(s) have moved farther up basin.

[dwoodward13]

I was up there camping about 2 weeks ago. While we didn't see the bear, we heard reports from other hikers on the way up. We hung our food and smelly items (first aid kit/fishing gear/ect) like normal and didn't have any issues, nor did we hear of any of the several other campers close by having any issues. Just follow proper bear safety protocol (ie hang food & smelly things or use canister/don't eat close to or in camp/ect) and you'll be fine.

[drhansenej]

I was there last week, camped the night of 6/21. The bear came into our camp site while we were making dinner. He came within about 15ft of our tents, sat down, and stared at us. There was a large camp settlement across the trail for a trail work team, and they made noise while we make noise, and eventually the bear left. He came back maybe 10-15 minutes later and did the same thing. This time the leader of the work team came over with an air horn and blasted the bear away. He said the bear has been a continuous nuisance but has not yet been aggressive. We moved our 2 tents across to the south side of the trail into the work team camp and were not bothered by the bear again.

The story from the team leader was that the bear was maybe 2-3 years old and has gotten into people's food and tents in the past, so he's associated people with food.

We also had deer strolling through camp and the usual goats. Lots of residents looking for easy food.

[randalmartin]

Also, I wouldn't just hang things, also put inside an odor proof container and then hang. Like a resealable Mylar bag or an Opsak.

http://www.discountmylarbags.com/odor-p ... nd-pharma/

https://www.rei.com/product/884265/loks ... ckage-of-2

If you hang without putting in an odor proof container/bag the Bear will still smell your hung food, be attracted to your campsite and potentially result in an unwanted enounter or worse, the bear going through your tent, tearing up your gear.

[Markwise]

Seems worth adding, if you hang food, it should be hung away from your campsite so if per chance it does attract a bear it is not attracting it to the immediate vicinity of your camp (or your neighbor's camp )

[starsstuff]

I was hiking up there Weds. Everyone who camped said the bear was very bold and harassed them all night. A large group of men had camped for two nights. The bear came right into tents and damaged gear. They had been unable to sleep or hike and were giving up and leaving early very frustrated. Said they went through an entire can of bear spray and it kept coming back. I cannot attest to their food management. Every post in the log book remarked about the bear the past two weeks being bold.

[KS Jude]

Any updates this bear the past week? Still causing trouble?

[Tornadoman]

I know a couple friends who were harassed by the bear on the night of Sunday the 1st. It ended up getting into their hung bear back and ate all their food. They hiked out the morning of July 2nd and some parks and wildlife people were heading up to assess the bear. I can't imagine the bear would leave the area since it seems very habituated at this point. I assume it is still there unless it has been relocated or put down.

[Conor]

I didn't hike via Willow lake, but some people I met on Challenger on 7/4 said they saw the bear "about 5 ft away." They day tripped it from the TH and they passed through in the dark.

It's probably prudent to assume the bear is there to stay until it is either shot or relocated. Those are the only 2 endings to this story. Anyone thinking the bear will magically move on with so many "rewards" is fooling themselves. Bear containers in a reactive manner don't change the outcome. Proper camp/cook site management and proper food storage proactively DO change the outcome. Perhaps it's time to start thinking about carrying the proper storage in ALL of colorado, not just when a problem pops up??

[Tornadoman]

It's probably prudent to assume the bear is there to stay until it is either shot or relocated. Those are the only 2 endings to this story. Anyone thinking the bear will magically move on with so many "rewards" is fooling themselves. Bear containers in a reactive manner don't change the outcome. Proper camp/cook site management and proper food storage proactively DO change the outcome. Perhaps it's time to start thinking about carrying the proper storage in ALL of colorado, not just when a problem pops up??

Very good post. I carry a bear container on all overnight hikes, worth the added weight in my opinion!

[LURE]

It's probably prudent to assume the bear is there to stay until it is either shot or relocated. Those are the only 2 endings to this story. Anyone thinking the bear will magically move on with so many "rewards" is fooling themselves. Bear containers in a reactive manner don't change the outcome. Proper camp/cook site management and proper food storage proactively DO change the outcome. Perhaps it's time to start thinking about carrying the proper storage in ALL of colorado, not just when a problem pops up??

This is the thing some people have a tendency to not realize, especially with black bears in colorado - that is, being bear conscious almost has more to do with the well-being of the bear than the well-being of the person. This bear is at a disadvantage now AND it's getting closer and closer to a potentially dangerous human conflict occuring.

With the black bear increases this state is seeing this becomes more important. Although, for me, I'm just excited about the bear hunting opportunities because we just keep seeing tag allocations go up and up in many management areas