Reply #21: You offered the best solution.

[rrneck]

Bear spray will make her feel better. For the other critters I carry a big knife.

I miss camping in East Tennessee *sniff*. I used to carry there since state and national parks back home were so underutilized that when you were in the woods alone you were really alone. It seemed like once a year or so somebody would get killed in a state park.

Out here everybody hikes and camps, so it's a different experience. There doesn't seem to be nearly as much solitude as far as I've seen, but I'm still looking. But those Redwoods are friggin' spectacular. Where I live you can just about go from sea level through a Redwood forest to the top of a ten thousand foot mountain and still have time to take in a performance of Richard III in a long weekend.