Encounter with a Black Bear at Lakuyin Cabin: The Night an Uninvited Guest Guarded Our Door

The deep, low growls outside the cabin that night remain unforgettable to this day. It was only in that moment that I truly realized how deeply dissatisfied this forest dweller was with the fact that we had "occupied" its cabin.

On September 9, 2019, two friends and I embarked on a traverse of the South Section Two of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range. It was the second day of the journey. We set out from Xiangyang Cabin, passed Jiaming Lake, and continued onward to Lakuyin Cabin. The weather in the mountains was excellent, and along the way we even happened to see the Minister of Transportation arrive at Jiaming Lake by helicopter for an inspection. The three of us walked along in high spirits, enjoying ourselves as we went, completely unaware that an unforgettable encounter with a black bear was waiting for us.

Rather than calling it bad luck, it might be better described as a rare kind of good fortune. Without experiencing it firsthand, it would almost be hard to believe that the black bear was not actually an actor hired to play the part. Although we never managed to see the bear ourselves that night, having spent the entire evening hiding inside the cabin, its persistence in "guarding the cabin without ever giving up" throughout the night was both admirable and frustrating.

The following is a chronological account of what we experienced that day.

Lakuyin Cabin on the day of the incident.

Unexpected "Traces" and Cabin Alert

Based on the information we pieced together afterward, the bear had crossed paths with three different groups of hikers:

• First group (September 5, four days before us): The first group to report the bear. Apparently, the black bear was even staying in the cabin's attic at the time, and one hiker's backpack was struck by the bear. This also explained why, when we arrived, the cabin ladder had deliberately been stored in the attic, while warning messages had been left near the entrance.

• Second group (three hours before us): The two hikers, Mr. Chang and Mr. Lee.

• Third group: Our group.

14:45｜Arrival at Lakuyin Cabin

We were the first to encounter the two men from the second group. Mr. Chang, looking extremely serious, told us:

"When we arrived at noon, we ran straight into the bear!"

According to his account, they discovered that the bear was inside the cabin when they were preparing to enter. The moment it saw them, it charged straight out after them. They immediately dodged aside and hid beside the cabin, fortunately allowing the bear to turn around and disappear back into the forest.

Inside the cabin, Mr. Lee was resting. The interior was in complete disarray, clearly having been thoroughly "ransacked" by the bear. The ladder had been moved into the attic, the emergency box had been broken open, and clear bear paw prints were visible on the mattresses. There were even several areas of bear droppings on the floor, while a strong smell of wild animal lingered throughout the cabin. Although the two men had already swept the droppings outside, the disorder at the scene was still shocking.

Bear paw prints left on a mattress inside the cabin.

Six Hours of Tension: Inside Lakuyin Cabin

16:00–17:00｜Early Dinner and Bedtime

Faced with the situation, everyone was both helpless and highly tense. Even going outside to use the toilet required someone to stand guard, and our original plan to play around by the stream was obviously cancelled. In order to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible, we decided to have dinner early and prepare to set off before dawn the following morning.

Before going to sleep, we placed two chairs outside the door as a barrier, while the main door itself was firmly secured with an iron bar. We then forced ourselves to fall asleep despite our lingering unease.

18:00｜The First Probe

I suddenly woke up halfway through my sleep and saw Mr. Chang standing guard by the door. Not long afterward, he shouted:

"The bear is back!"

A commotion followed outside, and the bear soon ran away again.

21:00｜Scratching at the Door and Low Growls

Half asleep, we began to hear faint rustling sounds around us, followed by the unmistakable sounds of claws scraping and striking the cabin door. Everyone was instantly awakened. Although we desperately wanted to see what the bear actually looked like, no one dared to open the door.

As the sounds outside continued, we further reinforced the cabin's defenses by taking the two ladders inside and using them alternately to block the door. After a while, the movement outside temporarily subsided. Then, from the forest not far away, came a series of deep, low growls. In the stillness of the night, every sound could be heard clearly throughout the cabin—a warning filled with the unmistakable displeasure of a creature whose territory had been invaded.

01:20–02:30｜Evacuation and Breaking Out Under Guard

At 01:20 in the morning, we got up to cook breakfast. During this period, everything outside was completely quiet. But as it approached 02:00, faint movements once again began to emerge outside the door.

At 02:30, we were fully packed. We turned our headlamps to their brightest setting and first struck the cabin door forcefully with our trekking poles to create a loud noise. We then slowly pushed the door open. I repeatedly blew the whistle I was carrying, and the three of us left the cabin cautiously in a tight formation, covering one another as we moved.

Only after we had successfully crossed the stream and begun the steep ascent toward Nanshuangtou Mountain did we finally begin to relax our vigilance.

Reflections on Human–Bear Coexistence: The Mountains Are Their Home

The following day, after reaching the summit of Nanshuangtou Mountain and finally getting a mobile phone signal, we discovered that the Lakuyin Cabin bear encounter had already spread throughout the hiking community. We also received numerous warnings and messages of concern from hikers who knew about the incident. As a result, throughout the rest of our traverse, whenever we encountered hikers coming from the opposite direction, the first thing almost everyone asked was about the condition of the bear.

This incident inevitably brought to mind previous records of bear encounters at Xiangyang Cabin near Jiaming Lake. However, because Xiangyang Cabin has long been staffed by managers and sees a steady flow of hikers, the situation is not quite the same as at the remote Lakuyin Cabin, where the lack of human presence may have made the bear feel that the cabin itself was part of its territory.

The fundamental reason black bears repeatedly enter cabins is, after all, the smell of food, kitchen waste, or garbage left behind by hikers in the past.

The presence of bears in the mountains is really nothing to be afraid of. After all, the mountains and forests are their home, and our presence there is, in essence, an intrusion. The key is therefore not to reject them out of fear, but to take adequate preventive measures and respond appropriately when encounters occur. In protecting ourselves, we should also protect these precious inhabitants of the mountains and forests.