[pct-l] Use of TH Bear Boxes

[Hootie Martin]

Wandering Bob wrote:

>>>
I did it, but only once. The public bear boxes (as opposed to the private
ones in the campground) are on the north side of the parking lot, near the
bathrooms. These are your typical metal boxes - long and low. They are out
in the blazing sun all day, accessible to anyone, anytime, and subject to
being improperly closed by careless folks. Bear all of that in mind if you
elect to cache a box there. Needless to say, anything that can melt, WILL.
My partner left my Bearikade Expedition there one year. It was still there
when we retrieved it - much to my surprise and his relief. Be sure to leave
your name and expected arrival date on it.

That said, the Onion Valley Pack Station offers showers and camping for a
small fee, and will hold boxes for a hefty fee (similar to Muir Trail Ranch)
or deliver them to you at selected locations for an even heftier fee.
Contact Brian or Dee Berner at Sequoia King Pack Trains in Independence;
bernerspack at yahoo.com<http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l>or
pinecreekps
at aol.com <http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l>, and
phone is 800-962-0775 or
760/387-2797.

For a listing of other Sierra packers, see
http://www.owensvalleyhistory.com/pack_stations/page54.html

Incidentally, the access road to Onion Valley is a very steep, curvy asphalt
snake. Drive it slowly and carefully. You would never want to walk it, even
downhill. Hitching a ride into Independence should be easy enough as there
are lots of cars in the parking lot - KP up and back is a popular day hike;
getting back from Independence is more "iffy".

>>>

Hey Bob,
My understanding of these trailhead bearboxes was that they were not
intended for extending caching of supplies but rather for folks that are
using the TH as a departure point with an approved permit, so as not to
store food stuff and other bear attractant material while they are hiking
in their vehicles.

Can you imagine what would happen if the boxes were used by many
thru-hikers to store food for extended periods of time?  There would be no
room left for the folks using the TH.  It was also my understanding that
these boxes were monitored and cleaned out periodically by the Rangers to
minimize this from happening.

Personally, I would not use this strategy for caching supplies.  If this
holds out to be a mild snow season, thru-hikers should consider doing what
many thru-hikers commonly did up until 2007 and that is to go straight
through between KM and VVR.  Many hikers back in the day did this in 8-9
days.