RRC Archives

June 5th:

I was leaving practice wall at about 8:00 p.m. when my girlfriend and I came around a bin and right in the middle of the path was a black bear. As I watched it running away I was absolutely sure it was a black bear, you could tell by it's size and the way it ran with what looked like fat jiggling everywhere. Also once it got to the woods all you could hear was huge branches being snapped over and over again as it fled.

At first I was just totally amazed. Then after it disappeared I was in denial, was it just a big black dog I thought to myself. I then recalled it's size, the way it ran, how it fled from us like a wild animal would, and all those large branches we heard being broken and I thought, no way it was a dog, it was a black bear. Next I was scared, it seemed pretty small, was it a cub and what if it's mother is close by. I decided to make some loud noises and the silence turned back in to branches being broken again.

I told Drew Mack about the event and he didn't believe me, but my girlfriend proclaimed that she was also a witness.


June 6th:

I talked to some guys at Bruise Brothers about what I saw and they asked where I saw it, and when I told them Practice Wall they said "OMG I bet it was the black bear we were hearing the day before while we were climbing at Practice Wall. We kept hearing branches being broken". I asked them where exactly they heard the branches being broken and they said it was while they were climbing the short 10B over there (Beta Spewer).

I never saw them there the day before and I even flashed that 10B that day(It figures I didn't get to onsight but flashed Beta Spewer... no actually I bouldered the first 12 feet a couple times waiting for my partner to get done cleaning before I actually lead it). But then I got a really late start that day, they were probably there earlier in the day.

Yep, we've known about this bear for close to a year. Saw a lot of tracks before actually seeing it. Black bears are ranging through to this part of Kentucky from the east. We believe it is a young male, but there could be more than one.

We had another bear in 2004 when we first started developing the Valley. It hibernated in the cave to the right of Tectonics Wall. But that spring, one of the big brave locals shot, killed, and mounted it. Against the law, but many regard this bubba as a hero for saving their children from "gettin' et up."

Bottom line. With extremely rare exceptions, the black bear is timid and will cause you no harm. You are in far more danger of getting shot down here by bear hunters than being attacked by their prey.

So, we'd ask that word of our new resident not be made public to the locals .

Rick and Liz

As the black bears inevitably move into other parts of the gorge, does anyone know how they behave around dogs (do they eat them)?

Et up, that's funny Rick.
Lee I think they only eat cute little white ones, they do steal pic a nic baskets though.

Bear's in Muir? I KNEW that was not dog shit we saw!!

One-Fall wrote:As the black bears inevitably move into other parts of the gorge, does anyone know how they behave around dogs (do they eat them)?

Yes. If your dog typically runs around wearing a nice Velouté sauce.

Redpoint wrote:June 5th:
I never saw them there the day before and I even flashed that 10B that day(It figures I didn't get to onsight but flashed Beta Spewer... no actually I bouldered the first 12 feet a couple times waiting for my partner to get done cleaning before I actually lead it). But then I got a really late start that day, they were probably there earlier in the day.

Nice worked in spray....a thing of beauty

this is the kinda comment that damages relations with the locals.

Well, apparently it's a legitimate concern, as they've already had a bear killed once. It's not really a comment against all locals, just the ones ignorant enough to try to kill a bear on someone elses property.

We saw a baby fox at de Bibliothek on Sunday. It actually walked right up near us and our stuff, probably about 12 feet away at the closest.

Did you know there was a baby fox in Muir Valley? Beautiful little creature.

We didn't feed it anything as much as we wanted to.

One-Fall wrote:As the black bears inevitably move into other parts of the gorge, does anyone know how they behave around dogs (do they eat them)?

no. dogs scare the shit out of them. in fact, a dog is the best way to tree a bear.... (not recommended)

i run in to bears in SE Kentucky all the time, often out in very remote drains (the most recent was yesterday). in general, the instant they see you they will flee. and if not, a loud noise will send them running pretty quickly.

One-Fall wrote:As the black bears inevitably move into other parts of the gorge,

there have been, and will continue to, move all around the gorge and eastern KY. you may have never seen one here, but they've seen you.

While This was a rare case and half a country away: I was in the southern rockies and A bear kept getting aggressive with another crew (about 15 miles from my location at the time) It came into their camp 3 times during the evening. The third time he went into a tent mauled one boy and drug his partner outta the tent by his head. It took clubs and rocks and5 people to get the bear off the boy. It ran and was hunted for a week in which time it killed 2 of the hunters dogs.....

Like I said RARE CASE however dont be stupid folks. Take bear precautions to protect yourself and the bears.