[pct-l] Avoiding Bear Problems

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning,

My approach to avoiding bear problems on the PCT is pretty simple:  I use an
approved bear ‘can in the approximate 200 miles of trail which require such;
and I take no special care whatever on the remaining 2463 miles.  That means
no hanging food from the trees; no odor-proof sacks; no “stealth” camping;
no moth balls; and no other type of supposed repellant/deterrent except for
one that’s evolved in the region over the last approximately 10,000
years:  Human
scent, which wild bears have learned means big-time trouble.  So far with
that plan -- and after about 50 years -- I’ve not lost a morsel of food to
them.

A few times I have used an unlined Ursak tethered at ground level to a tree
in marginal non-SIBBG controlled areas, but I doubt if I’ll even do that in
the future.

Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09