[pct-l] Bear Cannisters

[ambery-80243 at mypacks.net]

I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone, but in your e-mail you say that you only put in the Ursack "food I can afford to lose."  It is a common misconception that I hear over and over from people about WHY we hang our food or keep it in a bear canister.  It's not about whether or not we lose our food, it's about not having ourselves, our packs, or our camps be seen as a SOURCE of food.  When a bear finds food in the wild or from us, it will return over and over to the same location, and a mama bear will teach her cubs these same locations.  The idea is to never have them or any other animal ever associate humans or the sight of their gear as a place to easily retrieve food.  This eventually leads to human/bear encounters which don't always end well for the human.  While it endangers the life of the bear if they become habituated to humans and their food, more importantly, it endangers the life of every hiker that follows behind you.
For that reason alone, I would encourage everyone to carry a bear canister in high bear areas, regardless of the law.


-----Original Message-----
>From: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
>Sent: Jun 26, 2008 6:26 AM
>To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Bear Cannisters
>
>
>On Jun 25, 2008, at 8:18 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>>
>>
>> The reason the Urasacks were not approved is because those crafty
>> Sequoia/Yosemite bears know how to defeat them.
>
>I only bought a small bear can thinking that would work, but my food  
>doesn't fit. I've been using an ursack since day one just in case any  
>squirrels or other rodents came along. I've been trying to put  
>wrappers and food I can afford to lose or that isn't as smelly in the  
>ursack and the rest in the bear can. It's the best I can do. I  
>haven't seen a bear or signs of a bear in the Sierras yet, except for  
>way back near Tehachapi. I have only gotten as far as Bishop Pass,  
>though.
>
>I'm planning to return to the trail this weekend, start at Mammoth  
>and take a nice detour on the JMT to Yosemite Valley. My hope is that  
>the popular camp sites will have bear boxes and I can use those in  
>this trouble area.
>
>I'm not trying to skirt the law. I just made a mistake in the size of  
>my can. A big one would have been better since they weigh the same,  
>but I didn't think I could fit a big one in my pack so I got the  
>small one.
>
>Anyway, after all that time spent hauling tons of water through  
>Southern California, a bear can weighs nothing.
>
>Diane
>
>
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