He wanted to see it for himself, and size it up for the possibility of it being a cave that he and Brownie had search for.
By the time Clay first saw it. I had it set up pretty comfortable, with air mattresses, sleeping bags, tent, pots & pans, 15-20 gallons of water obtained from a nearby wash when it was running. A large cooler for storing food that the mice couldn’t get into. Comfortable plastic lawn chairs. Two burner gas stove. I even had a battery powered clock hanging on the wall. It was great!
We could go in there carrying nothing but food and water, and have a comfortable place to sleep, and all the camping equipment we needed for a pleasant stay. Over the years, we managed to build up a pretty good supply of canned goods, and dehydrated food by always carrying a little more than we needed for each trip. I figure we had enough food cached away to last one person two weeks, or two people for a week...
Clay in the cave - 1
Clay in the cave - 2
Clay in the cave - 3
That was before the bear found it!
Bears can be a real nuisance when you leave anything stashed in the mountains. They have learned that if they follow the scent of a human trail. It will sometimes lead them to hidden caches of food or water.
Shortly after Clay had an accident that injured his hip and ended long hikes on foot into the mountains. I made a trip to the camp alone
The camp after the Bear found it.
The Bear had himself a real good time and left nothing edible but a jar of coffee that he must not of been able to bite open, or figure out how to get top off of.
He ripped the whole end off the storage cooler. The large blue container in the background was filled with water. He didn’t manage to get into that. The small cooler beside it was a well stocked First Aid Kit.
It was obvious that we would never be able to use that campsite again, so I gathered up everything that was burnable, and had one last campfire in the back of the cave. Tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses plastic dishes, cups and all. That was one of the HOTTEST campfires I have ever experienced!
The photos below are of another camp I found in another part of the mountains, a long way from the camp that Clay and I shared. But… still close enough to have been hit by the same Bear.
In the last few years I have found several more camps. All torn up and scattered about in the same way, with the tell-tale bite marks of a bear's teeth, in all the cans of food that had been so carefully cached away for later use, by some hiker/camper.
Now, I am always careful to spread red or black pepper on my trail for at least 200 feet, leading into, or away from, an area where I have made a food or water cache.
So far it has worked! But I know I will never have another camp as comfortable, and well stocked, as the one in the cave, that Clay and I enjoyed for so many years.
Jim Hatt
