Tracking brown bears in fresh snow on Kodiak — what the tracks told us

Bear got my bear bag in the Porcupine Mountains — then came for the pancakes

Porcupine Mountains, Michigan. A black bear got into my hung bear bag overnight, which was my fault for a mediocre hang — too close to the trunk and not high enough. Annoying but survivable. The part I will not forget is the next morning. I was cooking pancakes and the same bear came back for breakfast. I banged pots and pans together, shouted, made myself big, and it turned and left. It was clearly a food-conditioned bear that had done this before. What I changed permanently after that trip: - Hard-sided canister instead of a hang whenever the area allows it. - Cook and eat well away from where I sleep, downwind. - No greasy, high-smell breakfast food in bear country. Pancakes and bacon are basically an invitation. - Keep the pot lid and a spoon within reach while cooking. Noise works. Anyone else lost food to a black bear in the Porkies? That area seems to have a few habituated ones.