High Sierra Topix

Interesting posts so far.. Sounds like there are indeed a couple of people who have seen a bear above treeline..but not very many. I know I felt it was strange when I was mine years ago. I love the Roguephotonic picture.. actually the area is reasonably close to where I had my experience offset by 12 years. I miss seeing his posts...

I saw bear scat at around 11,000 feet on Glacier Ridge. For a photo, see: http://www.sierrahiker.com/GlacierRidge/index.html

Since when is seeing "not many bears" any indicator that there are not very many bears? People who visit the parks a lot rarely see bears in lower elevations. But we know good and well that there are in fact many bears.

The most memorable pile of bear scat I have seen was at about 11,300 on the way up to Forester pass. This was in the days before can requirements, so we were hanging every night. We were looking for a campsite, and thinking that since there were no trees big enough to hang from, no need to worry. Spotted a lovely level area and strolled over to check it out. RIght dead center was a healthy bear turd - and it was partly aluminum foil.

I feel like 95% of Sierra bears hang-out in the frontcountry, as they've learned that this is the best place to score an easy meal. I've done a good amount of backpacking, and I've probably seen less than five bears once I've gotten more than five miles past the trailhead. There have been times when I've seen that many bears in a single day in the Giant Forest. Whereas frontcountry bears can hardly be bothered to move when you shout and throw pine cones at them, every time I've seen a backcountry bear they've scattered as soon as they saw me coming. Ironically the only time I've had my food taken in the backcountry was when I stored it away in a bear box and a mouse or some little critter got to it.

The highest elevation I've ever seen a bear in the Sierra was only about 10500' or so in the unnamed drainage NE of Arrow Peak and SW of Bench Lake. This was also the healthiest and most beautiful bear I've seen in the Sierra. It was enormous and jet black, seemingly blue black, in color. It moved pretty quickly through the trees so I was unable to photograph it but it was quite a sight. Other than that I've had an amazingly small number of bear sightings in the Sierra backcountry considering how many days I've spent up there, although I've seen bear scat all over the range (don't recall highest elevation for that, though). I recall seeing a mother and cub somewhere near Ebbetts Pass once, but I recall it was so close to the kickoff point to the Raymond Lake trail so as to qualify as nearly front country (owing to the many campgrounds nearby). I've seen a ton of bears in the front country, in contrast, with the highest numbers being at Tuolumne Meadows in the late 1960s when my family would stay there.

I used to lose sleep when defending hung food bags in Yosemite in the 90s. Once we started only using bear cans I never lose sleep and only see bears a few times on a trip. The last time I saw an active bear after food was on the PCT at Woods creek at dinner time. I try to avoid high use campsites like that. The bear was looking to see what food could be had while people were out cooking it at dusk. We had our food put away and it was interesting seeing people yelling at the the bear as it moved once campsite to the next.

Does anyone know if there has been a robust population/range survey for Sierra bears? Rather than hearsay from individuals, a real count of bears? I suppose bear poop or tracks may be easier to map than bears themselves. Can radio collars be put on bears, or do they just pull them off?

I have seen a lot more bears in the backcountry than creekfeet, probably because I have done a bit of backpacking in northern Yosemite. Currently I see bears about every other trip, whereas, in the past, I have observed as many as 8 bears per day. I suspect a lot of backpackers simply do not see bears because they are not looking for them. Most of my "sightings" are just a patch of fur scurrying off. However I have had several standoffs with bears close-by; mostly mother bear and cub- quite scary! Rather than say 95% of bears are in the "front country", I would say 95% of bears in the sub-alpine ecosystem, but still in the "backcountry". I have seen and encountered enough bears that I would be very happy if I never saw another!

I remember about 15 years ago watching a momma and her two cubs going West over Kearsarge pass which is about 11,700. Also remember seeing bear scat while approaching Harrison pass which is a bit higher.

Wandering Daisy, I would bet that the national parks have wildlife statistics on a per-species basis.