Until you have an actual face to face encounter, you will probably not truly believe this, but any sign of assertiveness from a human will cause the black bears in california to retreat.
I agree about not carrying the bear bell in the Sierras, but Steve C has a fun story and a souvenier to show from a black bear in the Sierras who did not get the memo that most of them follow about backing away from assertive humans. Steve, care to share?
Brent
