[pct-l] Wilderness Regulations

[Reinhold Metzger]

Having followed the recent bear canister tread with great amusement and
since much of my backpacking is in the Sierra, a hot bed for bear activity,
I decided to review  the latest ever changing wilderness regulations
pertaining to proper bear precaution in the Sierra National Forest.

''SIERRA NATIONAL FORREST WILDERNESS REGULATIONS:
Proper food storage is required to avoid having wildlife and bears eat your
food.
Use bear canisters, bear resistant panniers, or the ''bear hang''
method''.........

Hhhhmmm.......are they serious?......do they really want us to hang the bear
to protect the food?.....do you hang him by the neck or upside
down?......what if he does not co-operate?

''Bear resistant panniers'' ......Hhhhmmm.....what is that?......never heard
that one before.
I open my trusted ''Websters'' pocket dictionary and to my surprise, no
listing for ''pannier''.
Surely my  5lb  ''American Heritage College Edition Dictionary'' of the
English Language will
have a definition for the word ''pannier''.

Aaaahhhaaa!!!.......here it is....''.PANNIER''......1. A Large wicker
basket, one of a pair of baskets carried on either side of a pack animal or
on a persons back.   2.  A framework of wire, bone or other material
formerly used to expand a woman's skirt at the hips.  3. A skirt or
overskirt puffed out at the hips.

Hhhhmmmm......I'm not sure I understand this.....does that mean we could
just carry our food
under a skirts and forget the canister?
Hhhhmmm,....canister  vs  skirt....not a bad idea.....mini skirts are much
lighter than canisters, also much handier, no more dropping off pants just
flip up the skirt and you are ready to go.

What do you guys think, are you ready for skirts?

JMT Reinhold
Your skirt loving trail companion