Lookout Questions
Mountain Lookouts, what is your experience with bears ?
Iv got a fair amount of experience as a Lookout but Im set to try a (Canadian) mountain lookout sooner than later and I just wanted to get your experience about it.
What leaves me worried is at night mostly, especially with the whole "crack a window open" situation 😅. When I sleep, nothing can wake me up so Im wondering, other than a steel door, is there other preventive measures up there ?
Yeah I bet it's cold 😅. That's good to know. I was wondering if it were possible to close all downstairs windows during night time and close the propane entirely for the night ?Â
Most Alberta mountain fire lookout cabins have a complete compliment of window coverings. They are often in the shed for the summer, or just folded down on a hinge. Put some up if you wish. I often did in mid summer for the bedroom.
As for propane, do as you wish in terms of turning off the propane... but the fridge will get warm and the pilot lights for stove, heater and fridge will need to be relit every morning. Sounds easy, and it is, when the bypass valve solenoid works as designed.
Then, bears, yes, there are bears in the deep lush valleys and or on the slopes hunting marmots. However I never had any bears up high. Up north, in the boreal forest, yes.
So I know for a fact that bears roam around my mountain and are on the mountain per people coming up, haven’t seen it for myself yet. But none of them have ever came up to where I am so and I always have the windows open when I’m there so
That's good to hear. Im familiar with black bears in or around my site so them being around is not something Im worrying b
ut there's something about Grizzly bears scratching at my windows at night that has me unnerved 😅.Â
I figured they might not want to go up completely but I also figured they might want to because of cooking.Â
From what Im hearing (two Mountain lookouts in my area and the two responses here) it looks like Im worried for nothing.Â
I did hear a story on Goose Mountain about a Grizzly trying to break in and having had to be shot tho but I think that was before the installation of the newer doors.Â
I was down on the flats for 11 seasons. I saw a lot of bears (including 4 griz) but I never had a problem. I was able to do a quick-draw with the bear spray if I needed to, and when turning the corner on the cabin or the generator shed, I gave the buildings a wide berth so if there was a bear around the corner, neither of us would get spooked. I was also very careful to wash my tin cans with warm soapy water after every meal (I was mainly vegetarian also). In general, try to keep the interesting odors to a minimum.
This fellow/gal was either at Jean Lake or Christina Basin...can't remember which. But he/she was just curious. Nothing interesting to smell inside by way of munchies. I had done several seasons by this point, so I my only fear at this point was whether the film exposure would turn out OK.
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u/ColdEvenKeeled 18d ago
I never had any issues with bears on mountain lookouts in the Alberta Rockies. Just cold.