10/16/2025
I was robbed by a bear!! Friday afternoon I hiked around 7 miles into the campsite I was going to call mine for a weekend of fishing and exploring. I made it to camp and was immediately disappointed to see trash around the fire pit with meal worms containers for fishing. Keep in mind the National Park is artificial lures and flies, single hook only.
I also saw piles of bear s**t throughout the campsite. It was 6:15 and sunlight had already faded from the valley with dusk taking over. Intending to pick up the trash I turned to see a young bear on the picnic table in this particular site. A rare find in the backcountry of the Smokies. Immediately I was excited to see a bear disappointed to know I wasn’t staying at this campsite tonight. I got a few photos and yelled at him but he just looked at me, holding his ground in the campsite. Ok, I’ll come back tomorrow and pick up the trash and move down to the next campsite downstream.
The reservation website said this new site was supposed to have 6 people but no one was around. I set up , a few yards from the stream side and went down to the water to filter some water when my feet slipped and I was flying into the air landing on a rock on my back. Immediately the air was knocked from my lungs and I was withering in agony on the side of the stream , soaking wet, making some gutteral noise. It took me a few minutes to regain my breath and my back was knotting up at the impact just below my right shoulder blade but I was ok with some medication of Arnica and IB Profrin. My wounded pride would sit on the back of my mind as I quickly started shivering from the cold wet clothing and changed into my wool long underwear, puffer vest, and wool beanie.
I went to sleep in my hammock, pride slightly wounded, back aching but still feeling good about the day of fishing tomorrow. Around 4:30 am I woke to a tearing sound outside. The moon had already disappeared behind the mountains and trees and it was pitch black. I struggled to find my headlamp and looked out. A young bear, maybe the same I had seen in the other campsite had my foam sit pad in its mouth. I yelled and it dropped it, stared at me, I yelled again and it ran off. Picking up the foam pad I hung it with my food and went back to bed.
The next morning I got up went to fix my oatmeal. There’s my coffee mug. Where is my campstove and pot? I pack them together in a Toaks Orange bag and had made dinner the night before. Oh no!! It dawned on me the bear took it. Thinking he couldn’t have gone far with it when he realized it wasn’t food I searched the parimeter of the campsite into the doghobble and Rhodo and after an hour of searching I gave up. He either dropped it in the river and it floated off or he took it beyond my search area. I had enough trail mix and bars to get me through Sunday so I let it be and started fishing, starting right at camp.
Catching my 1st fish, I looked to my right and there was the bear again. He circled around me and crossed a log across the stream and drank some water, watching me the whole time. He crossed back over to camp and I yelled at him again and he ran off. Trying to decide what to do, I finally decided to hang my backpack with everything but the set up hammock and set off upstream fishing.
I caught a few fish including one good sized brown and losing another good sized brown when he got downstream of me and shook the hook. I explored some more, picking up a few more fish along the way, deciding I would keep a few after lunch for dinner. All of these I had been releasing back. In the National Park you can keep up to five a day over 7 inches. 7 inches may seem small but most of our fish average 6-12 inches with some larger. Brown trout can reach in excess of 20 inches but I always recommend letting those go. They are our breeders and really the best tasting trout are between 7 and 12 inches anyway.
Around noon I headed to my original campsite where two hikers were already starting to pick up the trash. I told them I’d take some but they happily said, no, they were day hiking and were happy to take the trash. I told them about the bear at the site the night before and we talked of the disappointment of others who would leave trash behind . They continued on, a long way ahead in their day with a 1200 ft climb not far ahead.
I headed back to my campsite and found my hammock undisturbed , wondering if I should move when I heard movement behind me. The bear was standing 6 ft from me and I yelled at it again. It stared. I banged sticks together and when I threw a rock to its right, it stepped forward, swiping a paw. At that point I pulled out my bear spray and yelled again, stepping forward and this time he sprinted off. I hadn’t discharged my bear spray yet but it was at this point I decided to pack up and move again. This bear was becoming entirely to interested in me, my hands smelling like fish now, that I decided this spot could be his.
I saw one more bear on my was down to my next campsite . This one running off as I hiked downstream. I met a group of guys camping at the newest campsite and told them of the bear and my stolen stove. They offered up to make me some hot water for my Chili Mac and the rest of the weekend was uneventful, a fun story to tell upon getting home. My back is still a little sore from the fall but otherwise it’s back to the work week and the grind of regular life.
