We love to hike but after reading many of the posts about Alaska it sounds like many people have seen bears at a very close range.
Do people really carry noisemakers? What about the spray, and what does the spray do?
Of course we want to see bears, moose, etc. but not "up close". So what precautions does the average traveler take when hiking?
On this board I have even read about people seeing a grizzly bear very near Anchorage.
Thanks for any suggestions.

The Walmart in Anchorage carries "bear bells", just a few jingle bells on a wrist band. The advice we were given is to "never surprise a bear" therefore, make noise by talking and clapping your hands. If you come upon a bear, do not look into its eyes and don't yell at it. Just slowly back away and speak in a gentle calm voice.
Bears are a little more few and far between to see unless you're going on an exursion to a place that is known for them. Moose are a riot. They think they own the road and are all over the place. Again, just use common sense and you should be just fine. If your really that concerned about the bears, you may want to find a hiking place that you go by tour guide.

Those little tinkly bear bells are not worth the powder required to blow them to hell.

If you want a bell, get one of those big Swiss cow bells and shake it like crazy and make a dreadful noise.

The bear spray is a pepper spray. If sprayed into the wind, you get it in the face.

Do you know how to tell the difference between black bear dung and grizzly dung?

The black bear dung has berries and the grizzly dung has berries and bells!

Utahtea

We had some of the same concerns before we left for our trip. We picked up an excellent *research-based* book on bear behavior called, "Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance," by Stephen Herrero. I found this author's research referenced many different places when I was doing some informal web surfing on the subject. Once I felt like I had a better understanding of why (or why we think) bears do what they do in different situations, I felt much more comfortable about going out and hiking. The author also talks about how people have responded to bear encounters and which responses produced the best outcome. According to the book, recent research suggests that bear bells aren't very effective, but other kinds noisemakers may be better.

Of course, none of this is any guarantee, but in reality bear attacks aren't very common so I wouldn't worry too much. Most bears don't want to meet up with you any more than you want to meet them. We did carry bear spray (about $40 for a can w/ holster) and we also used a noisemaker, as you probably read in our trip report. If you decide to use the spray, don't try to take it on the plane, as it is a prohibited item. We bought ours at Fred Meyer in Anchorage.

Have a great time on your trip!

I take an empty soda can with rocks, makes a good amount of echoing noise.

How many people will you have with you? A bear expert told me this spring that there has never been a bear attack ever in Alaska on a group of more than two people. So the first rule, if you are hiking is to stick together. Do not let one person lag behind -- you should only go as slow as the slowest hikier.
If you do stumble on a bear, you should make yourself as large as possible. What I mean by this is that a group of three people should stand with their backs together and arms in the air looking as big and scary together.
Being loud is good, but even though I hike several times a week in Chugach park and see lots of bears, I've never been a big fan of bells. But I go with other people and we're always talking and laughing which is generally enough. If you are going through stands of alder where you can't see where you're going, then we make a point to be as loud as we can.
Do not run.
With a grizzly, if you are attacked, do not fight back as it will just prolong the interaction and increase the chance of being injured.
You can carry bear spray if you want, but be sure you know how to use it and don't spray yourself or spray at too far of a distance or you'll likely get blowback on yourself and do nothing about the bear. It needs to be right up on you to be effective, at least that's what people I respect say.
I live in Anchorage, and have had grizzlies in my yard more than once, and black bear regularly. We do what we can to shoo them away, and one big thing is to never leave garbage around. And though I've seen them where I hike, they've never bothered us at all. Bears don't want an interaction with humans anymore than you do, and if they see or hear you coming, will most likely turn around. Besides startling a bear (which is unlikely if you are loud), the other problems come when you happen on a moose kill or a mother being protective of her cubs. But that usually happens in the spring when the moose calves make a good target, and the bear cubs are too young to defend themselves. Shouldn't be a problem now.
Always remember bears are wild animals and don't try to get close to them -- if that is what you are after, go to the Alaska Zoo.

We have seen black bears while hiking an easy trail that starts as a closed road outside of Valdez as well as bears along the roadside and in Denali National Park on our vacations. Our first defense is to ask park rangers and locals where bears have recently been sighted and avoid if possible. Our second defense has been various noisemakers--keep hearing that most locals don't recommend bells.

On the hike near Valdez there were two of us wearing daypacks with clanking metal pieces and we talked, but I'm not sure how far the sound carried over the sound of running water in the streams and waterfalls--the bear we saw there ran downhill across the road about 100 ft in front of us. We decided not to continue on the trail as we could not tell if another bear might be still coming downhill and the brush made it impossible for us to see where the bear that had crossed had gone. Some locals told us later they would have continued anyway--it was just a black bear--but black bears have cubs too and we decided better safe than sorry.

So next time hiking in bear country in Glacier National Park we bought the spray at a local store and strapped it on belt as a last minute defense. We didn't come close to any bears there and donated the spray to the park rangers before leaving. I think it was a good investment for peace of mind.

We enjoyed one evening talking with some locals, asking for their best tourist stories. The best we heard was the couple who stopped their RV on the roadside to photograph one of the moose tcapp mentions. Seems the fellow thought it would be fun to have his wife take his picture while kissing the moose. The moose was not amused and severly bit his face. Seems he needed Eleni's advice.

Just back last week & we traveled the big circle (Anc FB Delta, Valdez, Homer Anc & Dog Fish Bay.) We encountered several Blacks & Browns. They could have cared less. We flew over to Hallo Bay & the Browns were all around us. My wife saw the 1st one while she was taking a potty break behind a fallen tree.As we walked on the edge of the tall sedge grass, we had 3 different big brown heads pop up to see what was going on. We would stop & when the head went away, we slowly backed away. There was some real brutes roaming around us & once 2 young but big blond bears came charging out of the grass & stopped a short distance from us & started eating the sedge grass. The only protection our guide had was a Bear Flare. He said that on the chance that one got too curious or agressively close, you only need to pop the 60 sec.flare & close your eyes as the flare will tempoaraily blind anything & the bear will leave unharmed. Don't know the cost but our pilot had one too.

This reminds me of the story about two hikers who had a close encounter with a grizzly. Hiker 1 slung his pack full of food at the bear, took off his boots, slipped on jogging shoes, and headed down the trail. Hiker 2 dropped his pack, too, but had no jogging shoes.

H2, still in heavy hiking boots was puffing hard trying to keep up with H1.
So H2 says to H1, "Man we can't out run that bear."

H1 says, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you."

With friends like that who needs enemies?

Utahtea and Bob
Thanks to everyone for their responses, it give me a better idea what to expect and how to prepare.
Utahtea and Bob--thanks to each of you for a good laugh!!