Bear are among Rainier's most iconic animals, and a source of concern for some hikers. Should we wear bells to warn them of our approach, or carry bear spray in case of adverse interactions? Not necessary in my opinion, although feel free to carry spray if it makes you more comfortable. I do make a point of calling out or singing before rounding blind corners when I'm hiking alone in bear country.

Far more dangerous than bears, unfortunately, are humans. It breaks my heart that many female hikers find bear spray valuable in case of adverse interactions with creepy men.

All the bear on Rainier are black bears, which are far less aggressive than brown bear aka grizzlies. Even if you see a bear that is brown or cinnamon in color, don't worry: if you're on Rainier, that's a black bear.

Bear have extraordinary senses of smell, will eat just about anything, and are extremely food motivated, yet the ones on Rainier are generally mellow and uninterested in people because they are not habituated to human food. This is a gift given to you by the hikers of years past, who carefully hung their food and avoided any bear getting a food reward. You can pay it forward to the hikers of the future by being equally careful yourself.

Early in the 20th century, such was not the case. Visitors used to line up to watch bears who would scavenge when the kitchens at Paradise dumped out scraps. We have learned much about how to coexist gracefully with wildlife since then!

The diet of a black bear is 90% vegetarian, consisting mainly of leafy plants, flowers, tree buds, roots, nuts, and huge quantities of berries. They also eat insects, carrion, fish, and will prey on fawns if an opportunity presents. Despite the popular association of bears with honey, the main reason they raid bee and wasp nests is for the insects and larvae.

Black bear are strong tree climbers as well as swimmers. They can run up to 35 miles per hour.