[pct-l] Illegal food storage fines

[Bob Bankhead]

The bottom line is, it is at the discretion of the Ranger you meet whether or not to ask, check, and/or cite you.

In 2002, my partner gave me no end of grief over my insistance on carrying a bear can, swearing he had hiked in the Sierras for years and never been checked. Nonetheless, I took my Bearikade and put his food in with mine as we left Tuolumne Meadows. We hadn't gone 1 mile when we ran into a law enforcement ranger on the trail who went through the whole routine. He wanted to see, and actually carefully checked, both our PCTA permit, IDs, and our bear can (not only that we had one, but that it was one of the approved versions). The fact that we were PCT hikers gained us nothing. My partner was noticeably meek and quiet for the rest of the day.

This past summer, another Ranger did the same thing in Tuolumne Meadows campground. In fact, she made the rounds of EVERY campsite.

On another Yosemite trip, I had a bear completely ignore my bear can, as well as my OP sacks, but try to steal my whole pack during the night.




The odds are you can get away without a bear can, save 2 pounds, and stay on schedule. Worst case scenario, you either (1) lose all your food to Yoggi and BooBoo halfway between supply drops, forcing you to go hungry and/or (2) meet a Ranger and get escorted out of the park with an expensive citation in your hand, have to rent a can, and fall way behind schedule, assuming they don't confiscate or void your permit as well. How much time flexibility do you have built into your trip? It's your call.

Wandering Bob



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