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Cherry-Loving Bears Lead To Closure Of Gregory Bald Area At Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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This shot was taken in Cades Cove with a telephoto lens/NPS-Jim Bennett.

Bears have a sweet tooth, too. And that's why the Gregory Bald area at Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been temporarily closed to humans. The reason is the cherry crop that has attracted black bears looking for a tasty meal.

Park officials say the temporary closure includes the Gregory Bald Trail and Wolf Ridge Trail from Parson Bald to Gregory Bald. 

At least a dozen bears are concentrated on Gregory Bald feeding on ripe cherries. The situation has led to several close encounters between hikers and bears creating an unacceptable safety risk, according to park officials. Wildlife biologists are monitoring the area and expect the bears to disperse when the food source has been depleted.

'œWe regret the inconvenience to park visitors who were looking forward to a hike to Gregory Bald,' said acting-Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. 'œHowever, we feel this temporary closure is necessary to ensure the bears have an opportunity to feed undisturbed on natural foods and also to protect our visitors from defensive bear behavior.'

Comments

And if her papers are in order, hopefully the conjecture will end.


Any reason we shouldn't be allowed to question why the rules could possibly be bent for her, Rick?  


Smokies, welcome to today's world. The authorities can just make up any rule they want and not enforce the ones they dont like and the people can't question it.  After all they know whats better for us and what we "need" and don't need. 


I think it is a big leap to assume that the Park bent rules for Ms. Judd regarding her service animal.  

From the Knox news article:

"A few years ago a park ranger encountered a hiker and a duck on a popular trail. The ranger was told the duck was a service animal, and under the park’s old guidelines, no further questions were asked."

 A Smokies public affairs employee also said this toward the end of the article:

"Most of the time it’s a dog wearing a service vest and everything is legitimate, but there still are times when it’s another animal species, or there’s no indication of any special training. We are taught to respect people’s privacy. If they say it’s a service animal, we don’t push it.”

 


Backpacker...

 

You just go ahead and wonder about any little thing you want.

 

I just get tired, and no doubt it is my own character flaw, but I get tired of the overlapping and merging venn diagrams of "the NPS is always wrong" and "black helicopters are conspiring to invade the heartland".


Gotta love the smokies finest ambulance chasers... They got a REAL A list celeb using THEIR mountains, that was either clueless about the rules, or potentially legally camping with it (who knows).  But, this wouldn't be the first southern girl prancing her miniature poodle around the mountains, and surely won't be the last.  I see that sort of thing at least twice a month in the mountains.  This isn't just a mere hippie walking with his dog on the AT, or a couple from ohio taking fido for a walk along Alum Cave, or even a poacher from waynesville running dogs with radio collars while looking for bruins.  THIS IS AN A LIST CELEB, so the sharks are in the water, because they smell a REAL REAL money maker on their hands. CONSPIRACY CONSPIRACY!!

So what is at most a minor infraction, could be a 20 year lawsuit, and millions to be made.  Ashley's in TROUBLE now.

I do know for a fact she was camping at campsite 12, not campsite 13 and was there on June 19th. But, having a dog in the backcountry is against the rules, and that stuff does annoy me as well.  But, I doubt ANYONE at the BC office would give her a pass on that, so if she never mentioned her dog then is it REALLY a conspiracy?  

What if she got her permit online? Then i'm sure that's going to really upset some, because that means she's smarter than your average local yokel that finds that computer contraption system too hard and cumbersome.

I do think it's great that even an A list celebs can camp, somewhat quietly in the backcountry of the Smokies, since it is their park too.  I heard she was mobbed when she was at a visitor center, and when she went to Pigeon Forge.  The people around these parts are too star struck, and almost pathetic when they see anyone that's on that big TV screen.  It's kind of disturbing. I saw Paula Dean while on lunch in Gatlinburg a few weeks back, and people swarmed her like flies on... well, anyway, whatever.  Same goes with others like Shaq, etc. They can't get a moments worth of peace when they are just trying to be like us. Living in a western ski resort for a good portion of my life, we treated stars like everyone else, and I do miss that about that western laissez faire attitude built into it's culture.  The whole star struck BS is kinda lame here in the Southeast, but hey.. whatever.  But, yeah, the dog?  Don't know, but at most it's a minor infraction, and many times, i've heard Rangers just walk people out when they encounter them, and just give people warnings.  In Shenandoah and Congaree, dogs are allowed on most trails.

But, hey, if the smokies finest ambulance chasers are on the scene... TROUBLE is surely at hand.  Conspiracy.. CONSPIRACY!

As for the bears, good! Let them have the cherries, although, when I was up there the blueberries were also almost prime time. Last year, there was a pretty lean mast crop year, so they are starving, and there have been a few bear incidents this year with bears being somewhat territorial around people. But, as always, SFW hijacks any thread about the Smokies, and turns it into something about their ambulance chasing pursuits. Can't go on any local, or site like this one, without them hijacking a thread, and turning it into their own. It's fairly pathetic. Ashley Judd camping in the Smokies has nothing to do with bears at Gregory Bald, which is by the way prime blackberry, blueberry, and has cherry trees. Bet the SFW was clueless about that. They whine evertime that area gets closed because of bear activity, even if it's one of the most important habitats for them.


Nice post Sara, the public affairs employee had it mostly right, look, the persons enforcing  these rules, at least the vast majority of them, have a great deal of experience and training, it usually is relatively easy to see through the scams once the contact is made in minor infractions like this. Lee, you make a good point, and as most of my experience is in the large western parks and forests, I can see that in urban interface areas there maybe a percentage of citizens trying to break these pet rules. But I truly believe the rules allowing the disabled should stand. I became a supporter of disabled access after I saw Mike Corbett take Mark Wellman up the face of El Cap in Yosemite. Mark was paralyzed from the waist down, Mike set the routes and protection, Mark by an amazing feat of human endurance (it took several days), pulled his way to the top. I will never forget it. Two really great people, Mike is still a  close neighbor of mine. As I get older and am now acquainted with some really great senior citizens, many of whom have severe injury or health problems, it is important to be a little generous here in our approach to them. If it is a scam, the enforcement people will deal with it effectively. Until proven otherwise, I give the nod to Ms Judd. 


Gary Wilson.

Thank you.  You keep making our points for us. 

"Ambulance chasers?"  Ambulance chasers make MONEY.  We're not being paid for fighting you tyrants.

Now get off your government owned or subsidized computer, and get back to work.


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