Nantahala, dogs, and bear spray

“Just got back from several days in the Nantahala and Cherokee NFs (NC/TN). Excellent, wild trails. Had a great time but had to spray some dogs with bear spray. Will write a report and post pics later.”

“I can't wait to hear about this!
Did you get any pics of the dogs squirming around blindly?”

“Packing bear spray in the Nanny?

wuss...”

“yeah, why did you have bear spray in NANTAHALA???”

“Come to think of it, I've heard of more people using bear spray on dogs than bears. I've heard about dogs getting sprayed on hiking, running and biking trails, and just on the streets and sidewalks. The mailman even carries it. They should re-name it dog spray, or critter-spray or something.”

“Biking on the bike path in the city last week, and this kid had his dog (football sized mutt) on a 9 or 10 foot leash. That dang mutt started chasing and snapping at my foot. If I had bear spray I'd would've sprayed the mutt. Dammit people, control those walking jaws!!! This coming from a dog lover...at least those dogs that's well behaved.”

“You should have sprayed the idiot owners as well! Dogs are great, it's the humans hat suck.”

“Pamster, I hope I don't get on your wrong side. heh heh But U R right, some of those dog owners need a rude awakening.”

“Naw stanlee, you won't get on my bad side with this issue unless you start the peeper spray any and all and keep all dogs off the trails thing going.

I've been known to take a dog on the trail in the past. I've also been cornered by dogs that were "under control". It's the owners responsiblity.”

“I've pepper-sprayed many a dog while running country roads. They learn quickly to leave you alone.”

“Pamster
You need to carry Wild Hog Spray.........er I mean Gojo Spray on the trail.”

“OINK! OINK! OINK!

GET ON, PIG!!!!!”

“Funny you mentioned it...I just picked up the "Deliverance" soundtrack from the local library yesterday.”

“I myself have hiked in that very forest at night with no light and never even thought of bring a can of spray.”

“All you were thinking was, "Where's my F**K**G Flashlight"!”

“NANTAHALA, DOGS AND BEAR SPRAY

DAY 1

I arrived at Rattler Ford campground Tuesday night and spent the night under a clear sky. Stars everywhere. Next morning, I started on the Naked Ground trail. Saw some BIG trees in this area. Reminded me of redwoods, they?re so huge. Not being in a hurry I decided to make camp about halfway up.

DOG EVENT 1

Just as it was getting dark, I was gathering some firewood when two rather mangy looking dogs appeared. I looked down the trail and didn?t see an owner anywhere. One of the dogs started towards me and didn't stop when I commanded it to. Rather than wait for the second dog to circle behind and bite my ass, I hit the first with bear spray. He went trotting off with his cohort and I went back to camp. About ten minutes later, here they come again. The dog I?d sprayed a few minutes earlier rolled around on the ground for a moment on the edge of camp trying to rub the spray off, then came toward me. When he was 2 or 3 feet away I hit him again with bear spray. Again he ran off with his cohort down the trail.

Now, this started to give me the willies. I was sure these two mutts would come back again that night, to even the score. Not liking the prospect of fighting two dogs in the dark, I packed up and hiked to Naked Ground.

Naked Ground was awesome when I arrived. Bathed in silver moonlight, with a cool breeze rustling the trees, I just laid my pad and bag down and went to sleep. Never used my tarp, this night or any other. No need or desire to, under the star-studded sky.

DAY 2

Morning at Naked Ground was just as awesome as the night before. There?s something about the higher elevations that is very enchanting. After a few minutes of just soaking it in I realized that I?d left my food hanging at my earlier camp down below. So I hiked back down to retrieve it. Then, instead of hiking all the way back up to Naked Ground I went out the trailhead and drove around to the Wolf Laurel trailhead.

From Wolf Laurel I hiked up to Stratton Bald (5261 feet). Again, the surroundings were awesome. It was cool and fall was definitely in the air. The leaves were just starting to turn at the tops of some of the trees. While most of the forest was still green there were yellows, oranges and even reds sprinkled throughout. Acorns were everywhere.

Got to Stratton Bald around mid-afternoon and lazily set up camp, ate, and turned in. Again, no need to use a tarp. Just laid out my Ridge Rest and bag. In the middle of the night I heard a sudden roaring sound that seemed to vibrate from the earth into my bag. First thought was an earthquake (couldn?t be that), then, did Atlanta just take a nuclear blast? Wondered if a radiation cloud would drift up here. A second later a military jet streaked across the sky way high up, and it occurred to me that the noise was the jet breaking the sound barrier.

DAY 3

Awoke to heavy dew on my bag. Some of it was frozen. Hung the bag out on some branches for an hour and it dried nicely. Had breakfast and broke camp.

DOG EVENT 2

As I was leaving Stratton another dog raced toward me. This dog was even more aggressive than the ones before, snapping wildly and refusing to give me any ground at all. Unlike the dogs before, this dog had owners who heard the ruckus and called him. But the mutt wouldn't listen. After several minutes of trying to get past him and waiting for him to heed his owners' call, I pulled out my bear spray and pointed it directly at his face. Something in this act registered in his dog brain, and he retreated. A little ways down the Stratton ridge I came across another hiker who said the same dog came after him also and he had to bash the dog?s nose with his trekking poles.

Hiked back down Wold Laurel, then met a couple from Maryville I?d hiked with earlier in the year. Stayed at their cabin in the Citico area that evening and had beer, hamburgers and chili. Damn, that tasted good!

DAY 4

The next day we headed into the Citico Wilderness on the Mill Branch Trail. Saw not one, but 2 timber rattlers. First one was in the morning and he was still too cold and stiff to move very much. The second was in the afternoon and this one was bigger and warmer, and quickly curled up into strike mode. The couple had a dog but on a leash, which was good for him because this rattler was making some noise and would have showed that dawg who was king of the trail had they got into it.

JEFFREY HELL

The couple I was hiking with told me a story of how Jeffrey?s Hell got its name, but one of their relatives who stopped by later had a different story. Anyone care to venture a guess?

Will post pics when I get them developed.”

“Did you go to the Hang Over? It's near Naked Ground.”

“Didn't get to Hangover, had to cut the Slickrock trip short to meet the Maryville folks. Hear it's awesome though and will make it next time. Plenty of territory up there for more trips.”

“You showed great restraint. I would have pithed the damn dogs with my trekking pole. Pithing the owner wouldn't be out of the question either.”

“Those Jack Russels ARE ferocious.”

“Mr. Jeffrey went looking for his dog and never came back?”

“I gotta say . . . especially in light of all the crap that Steve took early yesterday . . . before his story was known . . . I would have wanted to have bear spray on me too.

Am even more resolved to confront stupid assed dog owner who let Fido run free without leash or voice control.

NO Sarabelle/Gojo . . .this does not include you. This is for the stupid assed dog owners.”

“I gotta say . . . especially in light of all the crap that Steve took early yesterday . . . before his story was known . . . I would have wanted to have bear spray on me too.

Am even more resolved to confront stupid assed dog owner who let Fido run free without leash or voice control.

NO Sarabelle/Gojo . . .this does not include you. This is for the stupid assed dog owners.”

“Sounds like you pack the big industrial strength can of pepper spray.”

“The pair were wild.
Wild dogs are probably the most fearsome (healthy) animal you could encounter in America's backcountry. Unlike bears, wolves, coyotes, lions, squirrels, etc, they have no natural fear of humans.

My dog and I had an incident with three VERY wild dogs when I was a kid. They didn't see us (even Yoyo sensed that he should lay low and KEEP QUITE), yet it was one of the most frightening events of my life. These animals were wild beasts - plain and simple. They were huge, too.

Wild dogs are what prompt me to use a large, heavy hiking staff...”

“i'm a wild dog!

raarrrrr!!!!”

“now i am tired.
and alone.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwww.”

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you.
Rarrrrr, and you rarrrrr alone.”

“This looks like a reliable explanation of the Jeffrey's Hell name:

"Local legends vary, but essentially a man named Jeffrey was hunting with a group of mountaineers. His hounds got after a bear in an overgrown area referred to as a hell - a rough place on the mountain where the heaths (rhododendron, laurel, dog hobble) are impassable. A great commotion ensued between the hounds and bear and the howling from the hounds grew less and less as the bear defended itself. Jeffrey became alarmed and took off down the mountainside, into the hell, to retrieve his dogs. He never came out, neither did his hounds. Since that time, the watershed has been called Jeffrey Hell.

Other accounts claim Jeffrey was burned in the Citico fire of 1925, but since the logging camp on Citico Creek was called "Jeffrey" prior to the fire in 1925, this couldn't be where the name originated. Two men were burned, but they died in Clemmer Cove off S. Fork of Citico Creek. Neither was Jeffrey."”

“As to the spray, I used the larger 9.2 ounce cannister from UDAP. It's supposed to be good for about 4 or 5 short blasts, which seems about right since after 2 blasts I had half a cannister left. It contains 2% capsaicin, which is a little stronger than some other sprays. Am ordering another one pretty soon.”

“go get'em Stevey!”

“Stevey Hell!”

“Save yerself tha postage and get 2 canisters...

...you know your gonna use 'em!”

“Sounds like great party gags!”

“Yeah...you'll have the crowd screaming!”

“Hey, don't talk sass to me while I have my bear spray!”

“Sure Steve Hiker pepper sprays an aggressive dog and he's hailed a hero, I do the same and I'm a coward and an all around mean guy.

I guess it's all in the delivery”

“Shaddap..ya mean coward! ;0)”

“Oh, it goes far deeper than mere delivery, Slap. I'm suprised this isn't obvious to you.

I do have a question for steve hiker. Where were the owners of the aggressive dog when this dog was harrassing you? It sounds like they were at least somewhat close. I am wondering why they didn't dash up to get control of their dog. Did they have anything at all to say to you?”

“The owners of the dog on Stratton Bald (the one I didn't spray) stayed in their camp, about 50 feet away and hidden from view by a clump of trees. They hollered for the mutt a few times while the commotion was going on but never bothered to come out and retrieve him.

I got the impression they weren't concerned that their dog was harassing people, even after he charged another hiker earlier that morning and the hiker had to bash the mutt's nose with his staff.

Felt like going into their camp afterward, bear spray in hand, and giving them a piece of my mind. But given their attitude this might not have been a good idea.”

“Why would gojo assume these were wild dogs? I have seen many pets do the same thing.”

“Good thinking steve hiker. Sounds like you had a good trip despite the dumb humans & wild dogs. I'm anxious to see your photos.”

“The dogs gogo referred to did not seem like pets. They were mangy looking and there was no owner in sight anywhere. I had seen nobody at all on the trail that day except for a couple of girls coming out earlier, so I don't think they were from another camp. Probably strays (abandoned) or wild.”

“Unbeilevable that people can be such jerks! It is people like that that will one day make it illegal for me to walk with my dog. There really should be much tighter controls over who can own a dog.”

“When dogs are outlawed, only outlaws will have dogs.”

“LOL! Good one there, Kleetn!

Bacpac, as far as your experiences go, did it ever occur to you that dogs are just extraordinarily good judges of human character? :-)”

“That's right, Steve - "mangy" is what clued me that they were prolly wild.

I saw a TV program years ago about wild dogs in the north GA mountains. There was a NFS ranger that referred to them as being far more dangerous than the bears.

Some friends of mine hunted a large tract of timber land in middle GA for many years. They had numerous encounters with wild dogs on that property. The dogs were quite aggressive.

The dogs that I saw as a kid were very wild looking - matted, but not mangy. They were definitely NOT domestic animals. They appeared to be rather healthy - unlike strays around dumps, etc.”

“I've heard people say before that there were wild dogs in that area. I've never seen any myself though.”

“I'm really surprised that steve would respond so violently to these creatures. Wouldn't it have been more reasonable to alter your DNA or something?

I don't buy gojo's wild dog theory. They sound more like aliens trying to communicate something important. Why else would they have come back after being sprayed? Some way to represent our species there steve.”

“last weekend, i ate some really peppery dog, up near nantahala.

spiiiiicy! whoo!!!”