[pct-l] Bear 'Can Usage

Thu Feb 7 16:01:40 CST 2013

Shroomer will you be at the kick off this year?

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 7, 2013, at 11:29 AM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com> wrote:

> In the 60s, 70s and 80s backpackers in the Sierra High Country had become a
> target for easy pickin's by bears.  The NP bears had learned to get food
> bags down from most every kind of hanging device we could arrange.  They'd
> follow rope ties to other objects and chew them through, send their cubs up
> to knock the ropes off smaller branches, and even sometimes get them off of
> the metal bear bag hangers that used to be in Yosemite.  And don't even
> think of putting food in your tent.  Kearsarge, Rae Lakes,  LeConte Canyon,
> anywhere in Yosemite, it was always a shaky proposition and I have a number
> of friends who had to end hikes early for losing their food to bears.
> 
> One of the wonderful consequences of having the bear can requirement in
> SEKI and Yosemite for many years now is that most of the bears who used to
> inhabit the High Country, have returned to their historic ranges far below,
> or so I was told by the Yosemite backcountry ranger a few years ago.
> Without us hauling up available food, 10,000 feet is just too high in the
> Sierra for bears.  We don't have the food sources that the Rockies or
> Cascades have at elevation because the Sierra is mostly bare rock up high,
> part of their amazing beauty.  The year I talked to the ranger, he said
> there was only one active bear in the High Country of Yosemite.  That's a
> far cry from years past, and it's all because of the incredible
> effectiveness of bear cans.
> 
> I nonetheless hate carrying them.  They are awkward and heavy.  But for the
> peace of mind they provide, and the reestablishment of the natural order
> for bears they've brought about, I'll haul them with me where required as
> long as the requirement lasts.
> 
> I've found the old Garcia Bear Can fits nicely right across the top of the
> ULA Circuit I use.  It's a tight fit, but it works.  Outside of the
> requirement areas, like most thrus, I sleep with my food in my tent.  I'm
> always aware of bear scat, scratch trees, paw marks or the like and won't
> stealth camp in an area of obvious bear activity.  If there's any question,
> I hang my food and have never had a problem.
> 
> Try to find a camp that is down wind of the trail.  Bears use our trails as
> much as we do and they can smell your breakfast at quite a distance.  Feel
> the wind direction before picking a spot in the evening and try to guess if
> it will change overnight.  Still evenings often bring with them a slow
> drain of cold air down a canyon which may be the opposite of the evening
> breeze.
> 
> And don't overly worry about bears.  Actual encounters are very few over an
> entire season.  Follow the rules, be savvy and they'll just be another
> incredible part of your wonderful adventure.
> 
> Shroomer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 10:36 AM, <enyapjr at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>> As Gary said - "...the bear can is not to protect your food from the
>> bear...the bear can is to protect the bear from
>> your food. And to protect other hikers..."
>> The main bear canister 'required' areas on the PCT are in the Sierra
>> national parks - Seki & Yosemite...
>> From the NPS website: "The fundamental purpose of the NPS “is to conserve
>> the scenery and the natural and historic
>> objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the
>> same in such manner and by such means as
>> will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."
>> For EMPHASIS re. WILDLIFE: "...to conserve...the wildlife within...by such
>> means as will leave them unimpaired..."
>> 
>> FWIW, "food for thought" to consider about using (or not using) a bear
>> canister in the Sierra:
>> 1. In the dry stretches of SoCal, thrus may have carried 5 quarts (or
>> more!) of water at one time - that's 10.5 pounds...
>> A bear canister is less than 3 pounds - and one does not need to carry
>> multiple quarts of water in the Sierra...
>> Therefore, IMHO, a bear canister's weight cannot be used as an 'argument'
>> for not using one...
>> 2. Using a bear canister gives a thru 'freedom' both from 'worry' (losing
>> food or ranger encounters) & to camp 'wherever'
>> they feel like stopping (not having to find a good 'stealth' site or
>> having to use Seki's bear boxes - where/when available)...
>> 3. Many thrus will not go from Reds Meadow (or Agnew Mdws.) to Tuolumne
>> Meadows in one day without camping
>> somewhere in that stretch...  There are extremely very few hikers capable
>> of going from Tuolumne Mdws. (or Glen Aulin)
>> to Dorothy Lake Pass without having to camp somewhere along the way - even
>> late in the season without any snow...
>> In that respect, Yosemite NP is the 'crux' - all of the PCT from Agnew
>> Mdws. (Inyo NF) until out of Yosemite NP at Dorothy
>> Lake Pass is a bear canister required area, with bear boxes only located
>> at Tuolumne Mdws. & Glen Aulin...
>> 4. 'Hanging' food is merely a "delay tactic" - one must still be prepared
>> to defend their food bag - and Sierra bears are
>> very adept at getting to 'properly' hung food, even outside the canister
>> required areas in some locales...
>> 5. A bear canister makes a pretty good camp stool while fixing a meal,
>> plus it can be a 'washing machine', too...
>> 
>> My personal opinion - "suck it up" and use a bear canister in the
>> Sierra...  Save a bear & 'help' future following hikers, too.
>> The usage of bear canisters in the Sierra has been proven to have resulted
>> in fewer bear/human 'incidents' in the backcountry.
>> 
>> Having said that, I do not use a bear canister when I visit far NorCal
>> each year...
>> I 'sleep with' my food - not under my head, but usually within arm's
>> reach, using an OpSak as or in my food bag...
>> Never had any problems since I started using the OpSaks - never had any
>> bear problems before the OpSaks, either - only
>> a few rodent incidents and one raccoon encounter...  I'll keep gambling &
>> playing the odds in NorCal...
>> 
>> Happy trails!!!
>> Jim (PITA)
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