[pct-l] Water, bear canisters, stoves/fuel

[Ben Crowell]

Mike Chapman wrote:
>I dont know where you live Ben,but in my neck of the
>woods(norcal,donner summit) there are plenty of Bears,and no bear
>canister rules. I see Bears all the time,heck the bear poop and tracks
>are enough to scare most people away from my hiking zones.

Hey, Mike. Wow, location envy :-) I live in the howling wilderness
of Orange County.

I don't want to be one of those annoying people on the internet who
feel like they have to win every argument. Your experience is your
experience, and my experience is my experience. But your description
did pique my interest, so I did a quick google, and I found that,
for example, Donner Memorial State Park has bear boxes. That would
tend to support my hypothesis that bears are common in certain
specific areas, which can be distinguished because they're the
ones with bear boxes.

A bear in its natural state has to cover a huge acreage in order
to get enough food to live, and a bear in its natural state also
isn't likely to be a nuisance to hikers, because it isn't
habituated to humans and human food, and it isn't dependent on
human food.

The serious trouble spots tend to be the ones where there is an
interface between bears and easy access for humans, e.g., a place
where a road cuts through a wilderness area, like Yosemite Valley
or Donner Pass. In those areas, you get the "bears in the 'hood"
phenomenon.

YMMV, just my 2 cents, I'm not the Grizzled Old Man of The Mountain
Who Knows Everything, etc.

 Ben