‘FREE’ Bear Canisters (Loan)

Tue Apr 3 01:05:39 CDT 2007

Now that the mud slinging / word wrestling (probably due to the unfortunate timing of a full moon within one day of April 1st!) has subsided for the moment (I hope!!)...   ;-)

Introducing the ‘startup’ of the “PCT Perpetual Bear Canister Loan Program” - or PCTPBCLP for those into acronyms...   - and Squatch is allowed to say it however he wants to!…  ;-)  :-o

In late February I posted to the pct-l offering a ‘free’ bear canister to a 2007 thru with limited finances and suggested it would also be nice to ‘pass it along’ to a 2008 thru…
I received quite a few replies, so I asked all respondents a few questions in order to help me decide to whom it should go…
All their return responses were ‘worthy’ of getting the canister and all said they would gladly pass it along to a 2008 class member – so what should I do with only the one bear canister?

Those responses inspired a ‘Plan B’ – and the beginning thoughts of a ‘perpetual loan program’…
I emailed various vendors and suppliers familiar with the PCT and thru-hiking asking for bear canister donations (donors listed below)…
At first, I was just trying to cover those first respondents to my initial post…
I received quite a few positive replies - more positive than negative by far… but what next?
Where to deliver and store the canisters?  Someplace reliable as close as possible to the PCT where most thrus would likely stop…  - Agua Dulce!
I contacted L-Rod (Donna Saufley) at Hiker Heaven...  She readily agreed to receive (both from the donors and the thrus’ return shipments), store (between seasons), and distribute the bear canisters…

There are currently TWELVE donated bear canisters at Hiker Heaven, and maybe more in the near future – and next season (??)…
Five bear canisters are already committed – but there are SEVEN still AVAILABLE for ‘loan’ to 2007 thru-hikers…
So - if you are a 2007 PCT thru-hiker with somewhat limited finances or on a tight budget and wish to ‘borrow’ (instead of buying or renting) a bear canister, contact me off-list ASAP (your ‘start’ date is getting close!!)…

A very informal ‘contract’ is required (on the ‘honor’ system):
1.  (the only definite ‘requirement’) You return ship the bear canister to Hiker Heaven when you no longer need it on your PCT thru-hike…
2.  (hopefully) You help select a 2008 thru to borrow a bear canister and, perhaps, be a mentor sharing your experiences (only if the 2008 thru concurs, of course!)…

Any bear canisters that are not committed for the season will be available on a first come, first served basis at Hiker Heaven - same ‘contract’ as above, though, and at L-Rod’s discretion…

(Will definitely try to get earlier notification out next year for the 2008 thrus!!)

I want to sincerely thank all those that donated bear canisters so far this year; your contribution and generousity is greatly appreciated:

Jamie at BearVault (<http://www.bearvault.com/>)…  (If $60 is no problem whatsoever for you, BearVault has the only rental program specifically set up for PCT thrus, IMHO; see <http://www.bearvault.com/bearvault_rentals.php> for details)

Grant and Glen at Gossamer Gear (<http://www.gossamergear.com/>)…

Mike and Dan at MoonTrail (<http://www.moontrail.com/>)…

Scott at Postholer (<http://postholer.com/>)…

“Bear” (aka Lawrence Beals - PCT class of 2007!) (<http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3269>)…

Brian at ULA (<http://www.ula-equipment.com/>)…

2 = “In Memory of Doug Andrews, long time (39 years) trail worker, Klamath NF, Salmon River RD”…

Also, a very special thank you to Donna and Jeff Saufley at Hiker Heaven, Agua Dulce, CA, for their commitment in this endeavor…

“Thank you!” to all…

To the PCT class of 2007:
Best wishes and good luck!  Be ‘nice’ out there!…  Enjoy and savor it!!
Hope to see you in far NorCal near Etna…

Happy trails!!!
Jim