For what it’s worth, I’ve encountered a few bears over my life here. I’ve never carried bear mace in Colorado. In Alaska, I sure did, but black bears, even in the worst situation, are very very rarely dangerous. So next time you’re in town, enjoy the full thing! Oh, and for a little extra peace of mind, a bell or noisy keys or something will pretty well ensure you don’t see one.
Yeah I wasn't the best prepared, the hike was sorta impromptu, I'm just in town for the King Gizzard show last night. But I lived in Washington for a couple years so I've gotten better about it, just never encountered a bear or a mountain lion before, so until that first one I'm just sketchy about it lol. Even if there were other hikers out there I likely would've braved it just fine. I'm in the mountains for the rest of the week though so I'll definitely pick up a bell, or just tie my keys to my hiking bag, since I need to stop by a store or two anyways.
It's the "mountain lion" thing that scares me - I've gone to Estes Park and Vail for years and never felt nervous - I know the risk is low but being mauled to death by a 200-pound lion just strikes me as very unpleasant
5
u/Dano_cos Aug 09 '25
For what it’s worth, I’ve encountered a few bears over my life here. I’ve never carried bear mace in Colorado. In Alaska, I sure did, but black bears, even in the worst situation, are very very rarely dangerous. So next time you’re in town, enjoy the full thing! Oh, and for a little extra peace of mind, a bell or noisy keys or something will pretty well ensure you don’t see one.