[pct-l] Smart bears

[Jo Pegrum Hazelett]

Hi Sly-- I had my husband answer this for you-- (BTW-- I'm Josie)
 
Hello Sly and Donna, 
 Bears can and do grasp with their fore paws--we've seen it up close and
personal , in this case a cub yanking on the tag-end of a line in his paw.
We have never lost food to bears, even when others in the vicinity lost
theirs using more customary methods.  Like Josie said, we have actually had
40 face-to-face encounters with bears, the majority of which were in
Yosemite, and not all of those incidents were controversies over our food
bags.  The clamcleat method is ingenious, but I didn't invent it, I got the
idea from a long-time backpacking and sailing friend who was a forester and
former Scoutmaster who is now in his 80's and has hiked thousands of miles
in Yosemite, the Sierra, and places beyond (most western states).  Whatever
works for anyone is best.  Our experience with the clamcleat vs
counterbalance method is that the clamcleat wins hands down.  Josie is
right...unless it's a well designed canister, everything else is just a
delaying tactic.  
Missing the long trail,
--Kerry
 


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From: Slyatpct at aol.com [mailto:Slyatpct at aol.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 9:39 PM
To: joph at piedmontbsa.org; pct-l at backcountry.net; dsaufley at sprynet.com
Cc: karsten.n.hazelett at smithbarney.com
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Smart bears



joph at piedmontbsa.org writes:

My husband used a clam cleat like sailors use
for securing the sheets on a sailboat to run the bag up the tree, then he
threw the rope up so it wasn't on the ground. If we had bear visitors and we
were unlucky enough to have the bear snag the rope and pull on it, all that
happened was that the bag would be cinched up higher on the rope.

 



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