[pct-l] Food storage techniques

[Jeffrey Olson]

I hadn't heard of these bags.  On my section hikes of two months and 
shorter I spend a day driving to points along the trail and hang food 
stashes from trees.  I usually put everything in a garbage bag secured 
with duct tape, and wrap it with cheap aluminum screen.  That keeps the 
rodents out.  Better to not have them care that the food is there at 
all!!!  Plus, less garbage to haul to the next garbage can.  This is a 
great tip...!  Thanks!!!

Jeffrey Olson
Martin, SD

jereenanderson at yahoo.com wrote:
> MendoRider posting in. 
> My horse ride this year started in Sierra City and finished at border of Canada. As I also did last year,  I drove my rig ahead (I sometimes got a ride back to Primo and other times I hitched back) and cached (buried) my food and my horses food at road crossings or trail-heads- that way I could travel "unsupported", not needing to schedule people to meet us at road crossings with food resupplies (as other equestrians have always done) and not having to go into towns or cities to resupply as the hikers can do. When you travel solo with one horse its not possible to hitch into towns with your horse to resupply.I cached the horse food in Food-Saver bags and mine in double Zip-Lock freezer bags. The Zip-Lock bags, containing my food,  INSIDE a larger OPSAK. The OPSAK features a patented "odor barrier" that does not permit food smells to escape outside the bag. On one occasion I was able to verify that it actually works. Really works!
>  
> This was at Beldon Town where I had buried my resupplies just south of the railroad tracks about 1/2 mile south of Beldon. I had buried the food cache under a thick layer of leaves. I then cached at highway 36 and drove rig on to Hiker-Hide- Away at Old Station. Angel HuffnPuff drove me to Chester and I hitched to Quincy where Angel Mary drove me on to Primo at her pasture in Sierra City. Then I rode north. When I rode to the Beldon Town cache about 10 days later, I discovered that critters had eaten ALL of the horse food - over 30 pounds of horse food that was in the Food-Saver freezer bags - there were 11 of these and they had been shreded - every grain had been eaten. I WAS AMAZED THAT THE OPSAK, CONTAINING MY FOOD WAS NOT TOUCHED - EVEN THOUGH IT HAD BEEN BURIED ALONGSIDE AND IN CONTACT WITH THE FREEZER BAGS. In the Cascades ( Bear country) I used the OpSaks for all food  - buried and in camp as well.. In addition, I also used my "bear charms"
>  (moth balls) - bears don't like the smell. I have never had bears get my food.  OpSaks are available from REI. You can get more info by Googleing opsak.
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> MendoRider - - - Ed Anderson in the other world - - -
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