[pct-l] bear canisters Complex problem... please help

[Aaron Wallace]

Online maps of Inyo and Sierra NF can be found here:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/forestvisitormaps/

The PCT enters Sierra NF when it leaves SEKI at Piute Creek, and enters
Inyo NF a few miles south of Reds Meadow, where you're in Inyo until
Donohue Pass.  The "Inyo NF administered" section of Sierra NF is shown
in this section:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/forestvisitormaps/inyo/north/14.php

This section starts about a mile north of Silver Pass.  My assumption
would be that the Inyo rules apply in this section.

Yosemite's regulations are straightforward: canisters are required from
Donohue Pass to Tuolumne (it's all either over 9600' or within 7 miles
of the Tioga road), then from Glen Aulin to roughly the McCabe Lake
trail junction, before the descent into Virginia Canyon (where you're 7
miles from the Tioga road and under 9600').  Combining the Inyo and
Yosemite regulations, a PCT hiker without a canister must be able to
make it from Agnew Meadow to Tuolumne Meadows in a day.

The SEKI Dusy Basin canister-required regulation appears to apply only
if you step off the JMT/PCT--that is, if you stay in LeConte Canyon on
the JMT/PCT, you don't need to use a canister. 

Don't forget that in the Sierra wilderness areas, if you don't use a
canister, you're still required to hang your food properly and actively
defend it from bears.  You can be fined in areas that don't require
canisters for improper food storage if you don't hang it, or hang it
incorrectly/ineffectively.  

It all seems fairly straightforward once you find the information on the
appropriate websites...  it's not that complex or confusing at all.  As
a practical matter, unless you're well-versed in food hanging and have
good food-hang-tree karma, you need a canister in the Sierra, at least
for SEKI, Yosemite, and the wilderness areas inbetween.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: montypct [mailto:montypct at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 5:13 PM
> To: Aaron Wallace
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] bear canisters Complex problem... please help
> 
> Bear Canister Requirements:
> 
> 
> 
> I think there's something wrong with my Topo or maybe the 
> John Muir Wilderness, the Ansel Adams Wilderness and/or the 
> Sierra National Forest from Kings Canyon to Donahue Pass are 
> the within Inyo???  My Topo does not show any of that as 
> Inyo???????????????  Something is screwy here.
> 
> Does anyone have that same problem or is my Topo right and 
> Inyo is a few miles to the northwest, at closest, to the PCT???
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Regulations per each area's site.
> 
> 
> 
>  Sierra National Forest- Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness "Bear Hang" 
> Requirements
> 
> Which stretches from Kings Canyon to Donahue Pass.
> 
> " 'Proper food storage is required to avoid having bears and 
> wildlife eat
>  your food. Use bear canisters, bear resistant panniers, or 
> the 'bear hang'
>  method to properly store your food and refuse. "
>   http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sierra/recreation/wilderness/wildregs.shtml
> 
> 
>  And Yosemite per their site:
>  Don't camp close too Donahue Pass (above 9600 feet).
> Canisters required within seven miles of the road at Tuolumne Meadows.
>  There's bear boxes near the store in the campground and 
> North at Glen 
> Aulen.
> 
> There are no requirements 7 miles north of 120. 
> http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/wilderness/bfoodstorage.htm
> 
> "This requirement does not apply to food that's being 
> transported or eaten.":
> 
> And also per the Yosemite's site:
> 
> Requirements for the 13 miles from Donahue pass to Tuolumne 
> Meadows (120) 
> then north 7 miles per Yosemite's shaded map
> 
>  http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/wilderness/bfoodstoragem.htm
> 
> 
> 
> Seven miles north of Tuolumne there are no requirements.
> 
> 
> 
> Another confusing question:
> 
> How many miles do you travel OFF the Pacific Crest Trail 
> before dropping 
> into the Dusy Basin.  Is it normal for thru hikers to go there?
> 
> 
> 
> Next??
> 
> If all the above is correct, what wilderness areas requiring 
> canisters do 
> not have a legal substitute of a bear box within a few miles, 
> and how many 
> miles from legality is that?
> 
> Another:
> 
> Who has had a government employee lie (or see things 
> different from actual 
> regulations) to them about these requirements?
> 
> 
> 
> (I have)
> 
> 
> 
> I'm for the use of canisters here but I think something more 
> important is 
> missing.
> 
> 
> 
> Warner Springs Monty