[pct-l] Bear Canisters

[Aaron Wallace]

The Park Service used to maintain poles and wires (stretched between
trees) in the Yosemite backcountry.  They eventually became ineffective.
(Until a few years ago, the pole was still in place at May Lake, and
wires were present in Lyell Canyon and Vogelsang.)  The Park Service has
installed lockers at the High Sierra Camps and Little Yosemite Valley.

A slightly different perspective...  in most National Parks (North
Cascades, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone), you generally have to camp at
specific sites in the backcountry.  Yosemite lets you camp anywhere you
want (subject to certain regulations some on this list will undoubtedly
feel are onerous and don't apply to them: 100' from water, off the
trail, not in a fragile meadow, 4 miles from a road, not too close to
San Franciso's water supply, outside Yosemite Valley, etc.)  So one one
hand you need to carry a canister, but on the other hand, you can stop
for the night anywhere you want.  If the choice is to carry a canister
or be required to camp near pre-placed poles/boxes/etc., I'll take the
freedom of camping-anywhere-with-a-canister any day.

> -----Original Message-----
> 
> I am no sure why the California bears are so much smarter 
> about getting food. And I wonder if the bear poles used in 
> the other parks would work in California. That would 
> eliminate the bothersome carrying of bear canisters