Team Rampant Lion

I pulled into Wachovia Bank in Sparta last night and a large black bear was raiding the trash bin at the back of the lot. Trying to think how it made its way here as this is right in the middle of town. May be the one I was photographing in Sparta Glen coming through the graveyard. But yes, they are back!

If you are still interested, I'm thinking of going in April. I have to dust off the mountain bike but I think it's still in good shape. I'm still game. It's a great ride.

WOW! Luckily this time of the year they are sluggish. Here is an excerpt from Lynn Rogers (a bear expert) on their state this time of year. Although it is good to keep in mind that they are now waking up.

According to briansnat, it is my jelly donut underpants that are the problem. Seriously, I believe there are three key reasons I see more bears than most. First, I tend to hike alone with my dog so I am not making much noise - they are less inclined to scoot and when they do I hear them. Second, I look around a lot. I really believe every cacher in our area has as many close encounters as I do they just don't realize it because they either walked right under them (up in tree) or right past them looking at their GPS. Third, northwest NJ (and Sussex County in particular) is really overpopulated with black bear. A TV show on black bears suggested their natural territory range should be 1 bear per 7 square miles which, if accurate, would suggest we should have 75 bears in the 521 square miles of Sussex County. If I recall correctly, the last estimate was somewhere in the 1,200 to 1,800 range in Sussex County. That's about 1 bear per every 0.35 miles. While most of my caches are placed in rural and rugged locations, the one from which this bear can be spotted is only about 0.3 miles from the police station and 0.5 miles from the main downtown area of Sparta, NJ. A town with a population of approximately 20,000. As Geobrnd can attest, there is not just one bear in this location but at least 4 as he came across all of them in one trip last year. Welcome to caching in northwest NJ.

No hard feelings at all (just in a spirited debate type of mood today). But I do consider geocachers a group strongly biased toward respect and knowledge of nature.

"Pay the price" for what? Hunting is not allowed back here. She has denned in a township park at a spot that the main trail comes within 100' feet of. Many, many people walk past her every day and are likely completely unaware of her. I am certain that she checks out every one of them and that this is routine for her. As a geocacher, you should know that 150' as the crow flies can be substantially different when terrain is added in. You will note that my previous posts highlighted I was on a different ridge (probably also 100' above) and the zoomed but non-cropped pics above demonstrate that vantage point. I consider seeing a bear in the wild a unique privilege. I know many people have never experienced such a sight and would enjoy doing so. If I can share the experience by showing a spot from where a reasonable glimpse can be captured with the right equipment, I am willing to do it. My expectation is that I would be leading responsible people who respect nature to this spot not a kazoo band armed with slingshots and pellet guns. To suggest it is irresponsible when you have neither seen the spot or have first hand knowledge of the circumstances is out of line.

I can't help thinking that this is aggitating this bear who only wants to be left alone. From these pix it appears that she can clearly see you as well as you can see her. Is a guided tour really neccesary? Just asking since only you know the distance between she and you. I I don't think this is agitating to the bear. I don't make noise other than that a hiker would make passing by on the trail. I don't throw things at her or otherwise annoy her physically. She has denned right off the main trail. She looks as shown every time someone passes. I am on a different ridge approximately 50 yards away when I take the pics. And as noted, I use a big zoom. I think if someone is interested in the same view through binoculars or a zoom lens, it is completely appropriate.

I received a few emails from people today who said they looked for the bear but couldn't find her. Below is a picture what she looks like from a distance. The red arrow points to the bear. Even up close she is nearly invisible until you make noise (pic 2). http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/log/b856a...36f211164d0.jpg I am now using a binocular camera as this is a big bear with a cub. As we move into Spring, please show respect and distance. If anyone is really dying to see the bear, I'll give a guided tour tomorrow at 11:00 AM if you let me know in advance. I can show the route that doesn't threaten the bear (er.. you ).

Excellent! Glad you keep my area of the woods populated with great caches. Congratulations and keep on hunting!

She's still there. Pic from this morning:

Depending on your hide spot, any plastic based container should be off limits. Animals have come to recognize the smell of plastic as potentially having an association with food. An animal that eats plastic can end up with physical problems. My experience here comes from my Whittingham WMA placements where a total of 6 of 8 caches were essentially eaten! This included Dcon boxes. If you're going wild, go metal!

I would recommend the Sparta Edison area. Aim for treequest's Dark Rock cache and you'll find yourself in the middle of the equivalent of a geocache park. There are more than 20 caches in the area including very interesting hides by treequest, Tick Magnets, Skully & Mulder and Woodlit. It is a very unique area as well with the old Thomas Edison factory foundations, a number of mines and varied terrain. This area was where I first got into geocaching and is still my favorite. For a more rugged adventure, I would recommend the Hamburg Mountain WMA area. Aim for briansnat's The Roar for a parking area. Then head into the woods to find others by briansnat and Mxyzptlk. This area is not visited often, is very interesting terrain, some terrific views and a great hike. Both are WMA areas so be aware of hunting schedules and wear orange when appropriate.

You are a hot mess! All my traipsing and I don't even get one! Come out for a visit, she's still there. Based on the weather I'd give her another week. But look real close as she looks like a dark shadow from a distance.

In was in Monterey, CA a few weeks back and dropped 5 TRL Bearbait coins. Based on the logs at the specific caches, it does not appear any have been picked up. Call out to the West Coast cachers - follow my tracks and there are some nice coins to be had.

You're right, it is the bear you spotted. But she is up and about now as opposed to snoozing. Just want to make sure everyone is alert to that fact. Her coat is beautiful so anyone with a BIG zoom lens could get a great picture. But I definitely advise keeping your distance. With the mild winter and denning out in the open I can't imagine that she had a good sleep. I know what a grump I can be when sleep disturbed so I can only imagine how much of a "bear" a bear can be.

Took Bailey for a walk up through Sparta Glen today as its close to home and a good excuse for a cache check-up. Absolutely beautiful day for this hike. While making the circuit, ran into the first bear of the season (alert that is - found a few sleepers). A direct line from my Ridge Trail Cache to my Sparta Glen Rest Stop (or visa versa) will lead you right to this big girl: She has a cub nestled under all that fur and gave us some big time eyeballing. I had a zoom camera and this is cropped quite a bit (why its so grainy) so I was not nearly as close as the picture suggests. I was on an opposing ridge near Sparta Glen Rest Stop. If you are out near these caches in the next few months, please keep your eyes open for the bears. PS - Watch for ticks as well, pulled three off once I got home.

The only way to safely find out is for you not to disturb this potential bogus dough, call me when you come across it and I'll go collect it for "testing".

Very cool! Our own celeb!

The Egbert Lake tract? Isn't that Rockaway Township property now? You need to get permission to place caches in this town? I was referring to the top post. "The newly acquired right of way will be managed as part of the Kittatinny Valley State Park in Andover and will link the Sussex Branch Rail Trail to the 26-mile Paulinskill Trail and portions of the railroad right of way owned by Green Township, Allamuchy Township and The Nature Conservancy. The new parkland also is an integral part of future connections to Allamuchy State Park and the Pequest Wildlife Management Area"

Unfortunately, that land is now managed by someone who is not particularly favorable to geocaching. If you place without permission, he will get very angry. And he provides permission on an extremely limited basis. I guess on the bright side, while he personally is not fond of geocaching, he has allowed a window of opportunity (albeit very small) and he does define his registration process.

Congratulations! Keep on hunting.

Congratulations John! Would have loved to have joined you for the day but I was on vacation on the "Left Coast". Please give me at least another week to hide some more for 1,100; 1,200; 1,300... . Keep on hunting!

Dancing Fool and Evil Chicken coins - like them both a lot!

Just a note, the road up to the stage 5 area is closed until April so you won't be able to get a car up there. I was bummed about that too as it would have made placing the cache a LOT easier. Lugging 40 pounds of rocks and a 50 cal ammo can up this trail added a difficulty few stars for me.

The good news is that the recent warmer weather has melted a lot of the snow up this way (we only got about 10" during the storm last week) so there is a good chance all stages will be findable. The bad news is that it is supposed to be very cold this weekend so bundle up. Good luck! TRL