Mt. Ogake is known as a place with a spectacular view that stretches all the way to the foot of Mt. Fuji, but on this day it was shrouded in mist and the view was painted white. That was a little disappointing, but this mountain climb was a very memorable one. That's because I met "that guy." I attach a bear bell to my camera in order to capture natural sounds. So the bell doesn't ring when I'm taking pictures, but it rings when I'm walking. I had a similar experience at Mt. Jonen before. The bell was ringing while I was walking along the forest road, but when I looked up, I saw the back of a bear running away in front of me. Well, because of that impression, I really have the image of bears appearing on forest roads. Also, although it's often said that bear bells are effective, I feel that they may not be as effective as expected. From my experience, I think that you can't hear the bears unless you get quite close. However, there are no evidence left in the situations where you can avoid them, so there may have been some situations where they were effective. The thing we must avoid the most is to encounter them, so in places where there are few people on the mountain and visibility is poor, I sometimes blow a whistle or use an air horn that I dropped on my smartphone. Also, I recently started carrying a spray for the first time in years. I'm solo. (However, I don't want to be in a situation where I need to use it, and I doubt I can use it properly, so I might stop carrying it soon.) You shouldn't pretend to be dead, but it seems that bears react if you move left and right. If you pretend to be a tree and stay still, the bears with poor eyesight will think, "Oh, maybe I'm seeing things wrong?" lol The Misaka mountain range may seem like a small area, but it is definitely a bear habitat. There are tourist spots around Mt. Fuji, so there are many people and there are many reports of bear sightings. However, unfortunately, there have been some fatal accidents this year on the hiking trails around Lake Motosu. Since it's a close area, they will naturally move to Lake Saiko. Looking at the 2024 sighting map, https://www.town.fujikawaguchiko.lg.j... I want to say, "That's pretty much it..." I saw it along the Nishiiri River in the Saiko area. Well, mountain climbing is in places where there are bears, so as the number of mountain climbers increases, the frequency will naturally increase. By the way, the estimated population of Asiatic black bears around the Kanto region is: ・Tokyo: 160 heads ・Saitama Prefecture: 160 heads ・Kanagawa Prefecture: 40 heads ・Yamanashi Prefecture: 800 heads ・Tochigi Prefecture: 600 heads ・Gunma Prefecture: 2,000 heads ・Nagano Prefecture: 8,000 heads. (These are listed as median values, so please think of them as having a buffer. These are numbers to get an idea of ​​the approximate number.) The old man who was with me at the Ippai Mizu Shelter said with regret that he was the only member of the mountaineering club he belongs to who had never seen a bear. I think it would be better if we didn't have to encounter bears, but among my mountaineering club friends, meeting a bear sounds like a full-fledged member of the club. However, the current increase in the number of bears and the emergence of bears that are not afraid of humans are definitely due to humans. How should we coexist with bears? Should we eradicate them? Should we protect them? We need to protect their habitats, educate them to improve their behavior and raise their awareness, and people also need to change their behavior. Bears usually have the habit of avoiding people. So... in this modern society, can we use technology to reduce conflicts with bears? In both cases, it is important to find a balance between eradication and protection, and there are issues that differ from region to region, so the answer is not uniform. Well, it seems that there is a good harvest of acorns this year, but will the bears be able to prepare for winter? Photo taken on Monday, September 23, 2014