[pct-l] bear pepperspray

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Feb 12, 2010, at 12:38 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> Right, but the topic at hand is about caching food for several  
> days... up to
> a week, while the hiker is off hiking somewhere else.  If a bag of  
> food is
> hanging from a tree for several days, it's likely to be taken down by
> someone (ranger?).  So the question is, what's the best way to  
> cache food
> and deter animals from getting to it for up to a week.

The best way is to put it inside a bear locker. There are some bear  
lockers available. I don't know where they all are, but there is one  
at Horseshoe Meadows, which is at a trailhead parking area.

As for pepper spray, it is not needed. If you see a bear--I saw many  
of them--what you want to have on hand is a camera. Whip that sucker  
out and take a picture before the bear runs away. He WILL run away,  
and darn quick. Of all the bears I saw, I only got pictures of three  
of them. I think I saw more than twice that many.

As far as caching your food goes, I can't see the allure in that. You  
will be so terribly hungry if you do a long length of the trail.  
Real, hot, cooked, fresh food will be good for you and put a spring  
back in your step. Going to town to get it is not a hassle. You don't  
have to make a big production out of it. Just pop in, get your stuff  
from the Post Office or store, have a hot meal and go right back to  
the trail.

Which leads me to the very best way to cache your food: The Post Office.