[pct-l] Bear avoidance...

[Stephen]

I don't know about the monikers either?  I was named by PCT hikers who seemed all too eager to name me and little choice did I have.  
Hum, avoiding bears...  Yes I'm sure this can be done easily if one stays well out of bear country.  But we are talking PCT here, not down town San Francisco.  The more I read and reflect on my own experiences themore I think stealth camping to avoid bears getting one's food is becoming folly.  And in this I am speaking of the main high volume usage areas, and esspecially the PCT through SeKings and Yosemite, but also farther north along throught the northern Sierra I know little of bears in OR or WA). I still feel confident I do not need a bear canister for my high country photogrpahy trips, but these are very different from travelling and camping along and near the main trails, in fact I am ussually far off any regular route where I rarely see a person let alone a bear.  When hiking along main trails I think the only way to avoid bears will be to take pretty long side trips away from routes the bears patrol, and they can patrol very large areas in one night.  For a few years I was in pretty steady contact and knew all the trail crews in Kings, met all the back country rangers on the routes I travelled, had back-country ranger friends in Yosemite etc, etc, and let me tell you there have been some real terrors along the JMT.  For a couple years Scar Face patrolled the JMT from Palisade Lakes to upper Laconte Canyon, Dusy Basin, and into the Eastern drainage along the Bishop pass trail.  This bear charged a trail crew cook who discovered it ramshakling the ranger cabin at Dusy Branch jct on the JMT, took who knows how many hikers' food, scarred the whits out of a group of scouts, and created a good enough reputation to get itself shot.  I personally saw some of the torn up food bags, met hikers who lost thier food, and spoke with hikers who met the bear.  One person told me "you wouldn't believe the ridge I saw it run up and over unless you saw it".  That ridge crosses right over from Dusy Branch to Grouse Meadows; no small adventure.  The point is, that bear was probably covering fifty sixty miles a night, and was aggressive.  The next year, a large group was camping at Vidette.  They had too much stuff to fit in the storage boxes so took watches to gaurd for bears.  Well, guess who fell asleep?  And when the bear came, startled the sleeper, and thus the sleeper startled the bear, the person got a nice clawing across the face.  This I got from a very cool ranger who I had been crossing paths with for four years.  So do you still think it a good idea to sleep with your food by your head in problem bear areas?  However, the PCT trek takes one through these areas very early in the season, and this may be quite helpful, but still no gaurantee.  I saw bear in the Yosemite high country in mid-June a couple years back, but only a couple other hikers as there was still a lot of snow.  
I think I've already decided to be safe and haul a bulky pain in the rear bear can as much as I have detested them for years as much as I hated the permit system in place.  I am not worried about a bear killing me or eating my nuts.  I wont have to worry about avoiding bears or being hung out in the backcountry with no food.  I can hike as far and stop where I please without pretending to myself thatIcan find a place to disappear.  There are alternatives. One could plan to use the bear storage facilities at trailheads and campgrounds, at least when near them.  I've done this a couple times and no worries, esspecially early season.  But there's some long sections with no such facilities.  I've had to dig the bear locker out of the snow at Lower Vidette once. At least I knew well where it was supposed to be.  Ever seen a bear knock one of these around?  Make sure the snaps are in good condition and maybe add a caribiner.  
But as I noted above, perhaps the best and only way to avoid bears is just stay out of the mountains.  
As for marmots, just keep an eye on 'em if you are wondering away from your gear. Then there's always marmot bowling, but that's another story...