Belden 30

Camped right by the saddle atop the canyon. I knew I was going solo in bear country but didn't realize until dusk and the energy of hiking was over that I'm really not a happy camper when alone in bear country. I was thinking about bears so much that when a noise and a large pair of eyes came to my camp in the dark, I totally forgot about deer and seriously thought it was a bear and felt some real primal fear. I announced myself and waved to defend my territory and scare it off. After hearing the familiar bounding noises and seeing the eyes suddenly a dozen yards away, I processed that it was a deer to great relief.

Early the next morning I saw a giant bear a half mile up the trail so a bear could easily have visitied me if it wanted to.

So I'm cool with bear country if I'm with another hiker to share the bear deflection. It's completely psychologically different than being alone.