[pct-l] ounces

[Donna Saufley]

A tidbit of bear can history.  It was back in ’04 or ’05 at Rae Lakes that
one very smart bear learned how to open the old style Bear Vaults, and was
doing so at will.  I understand he/she did this by applying pressure on the
sides with its paw, popping the lids off.  This led to those cans not be
allowed in that area, as well as a design change and exchange program by BV.


 

When I hiked KM to YV in ’06, just south of Glen Pass I had the privilege of
meeting the backcountry ranger who had been stationed at Rae Lakes during
the infamous bear’s summer raids.  He told me that the bear would peruse
each campsite, and bypass those with bear canisters – except the one BV
model he knew how to open.  Amazingly, the bear was able to differentiate
the model that yielded the best results.  

 

When I was at Rae Lakes in early July ‘06, a big snow year, and I was the
only human around as far as I could see.  The bears weren’t yet active in
the higher elevations, and were busy with the campers at the trail head
areas.  It’ hard for me to imagine so many people at Rae Lakes that you
couldn’t put your fragrant items into one of the bear boxes.  Perhaps later
in the season when the JMTers are out in force, it’s a different scene.

 

L-Rod

 

   _____  

From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Marcia
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 10:00 AM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] ounces

 

We are proud owners of crocs. Ken's weigh 12.8 oz, mine weigh 10.3 oz. We
always leave them at home saving a total of 23.1 oz...a whopping 1 pound 7.1
ounces! So our 2 pound 11.75 ounce Garcia canister is only a net of 1 pound
4.65 ounces when the croc savings is figured in.

 

We saw a bear approach our canister then make a U-turn to another camp. It
seemed that he recognized the canister, without touching it, and moved on.
Rangers in Yosemite have asked us if we were carrying a canister. It's just
visual.

 

If we really wanted I think we could reduce the canister weight by several
ounces by sanding out the interior. The canister would still look right to
the ranger and bears so it would retain its effectiveness. TIC

 

...GottaCarry

 

 


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