[pct-l] bear pepperspray

[Trekker4 at aol.com]

I like that, "the Post Office".
 
Bob  "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen, and...
Naturalized Citizen - Republic  of Texas  

 
In a message dated 2/12/2010 5:37:40 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
diane at santabarbarahikes.com writes:


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.
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