[pct-l] Bear 'Can Usage

Thu Feb 7 13:29:35 CST 2013

In the 60s, 70s and 80s backpackers in the Sierra High Country had become a
target for easy pickin's by bears.  The NP bears had learned to get food
bags down from most every kind of hanging device we could arrange.  They'd
follow rope ties to other objects and chew them through, send their cubs up
to knock the ropes off smaller branches, and even sometimes get them off of
the metal bear bag hangers that used to be in Yosemite.  And don't even
think of putting food in your tent.  Kearsarge, Rae Lakes,  LeConte Canyon,
anywhere in Yosemite, it was always a shaky proposition and I have a number
of friends who had to end hikes early for losing their food to bears.

One of the wonderful consequences of having the bear can requirement in
SEKI and Yosemite for many years now is that most of the bears who used to
inhabit the High Country, have returned to their historic ranges far below,
or so I was told by the Yosemite backcountry ranger a few years ago.
 Without us hauling up available food, 10,000 feet is just too high in the
Sierra for bears.  We don't have the food sources that the Rockies or
Cascades have at elevation because the Sierra is mostly bare rock up high,
part of their amazing beauty.  The year I talked to the ranger, he said
there was only one active bear in the High Country of Yosemite.  That's a
far cry from years past, and it's all because of the incredible
effectiveness of bear cans.

I nonetheless hate carrying them.  They are awkward and heavy.  But for the
peace of mind they provide, and the reestablishment of the natural order
for bears they've brought about, I'll haul them with me where required as
long as the requirement lasts.

I've found the old Garcia Bear Can fits nicely right across the top of the
ULA Circuit I use.  It's a tight fit, but it works.  Outside of the
requirement areas, like most thrus, I sleep with my food in my tent.  I'm
always aware of bear scat, scratch trees, paw marks or the like and won't
stealth camp in an area of obvious bear activity.  If there's any question,
I hang my food and have never had a problem.

Try to find a camp that is down wind of the trail.  Bears use our trails as
much as we do and they can smell your breakfast at quite a distance.  Feel
the wind direction before picking a spot in the evening and try to guess if
it will change overnight.  Still evenings often bring with them a slow
drain of cold air down a canyon which may be the opposite of the evening
breeze.

And don't overly worry about bears.  Actual encounters are very few over an
entire season.  Follow the rules, be savvy and they'll just be another
incredible part of your wonderful adventure.

Shroomer

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 10:36 AM, <enyapjr at comcast.net> wrote:

> As Gary said - "...the bear can is not to protect your food from the
> bear...the bear can is to protect the bear from
> your food. And to protect other hikers..."
> The main bear canister 'required' areas on the PCT are in the Sierra
> national parks - Seki & Yosemite...
> From the NPS website: "The fundamental purpose of the NPS “is to conserve
> the scenery and the natural and historic
> objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the
> same in such manner and by such means as
> will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."
> For EMPHASIS re. WILDLIFE: "...to conserve...the wildlife within...by such
> means as will leave them unimpaired..."
>
> FWIW, "food for thought" to consider about using (or not using) a bear
> canister in the Sierra:
> 1. In the dry stretches of SoCal, thrus may have carried 5 quarts (or
> more!) of water at one time - that's 10.5 pounds...
> A bear canister is less than 3 pounds - and one does not need to carry
> multiple quarts of water in the Sierra...
> Therefore, IMHO, a bear canister's weight cannot be used as an 'argument'
> for not using one...
> 2. Using a bear canister gives a thru 'freedom' both from 'worry' (losing
> food or ranger encounters) & to camp 'wherever'
> they feel like stopping (not having to find a good 'stealth' site or
> having to use Seki's bear boxes - where/when available)...
> 3. Many thrus will not go from Reds Meadow (or Agnew Mdws.) to Tuolumne
> Meadows in one day without camping
> somewhere in that stretch...  There are extremely very few hikers capable
> of going from Tuolumne Mdws. (or Glen Aulin)
> to Dorothy Lake Pass without having to camp somewhere along the way - even
> late in the season without any snow...
> In that respect, Yosemite NP is the 'crux' - all of the PCT from Agnew
> Mdws. (Inyo NF) until out of Yosemite NP at Dorothy
> Lake Pass is a bear canister required area, with bear boxes only located
> at Tuolumne Mdws. & Glen Aulin...
> 4. 'Hanging' food is merely a "delay tactic" - one must still be prepared
> to defend their food bag - and Sierra bears are
> very adept at getting to 'properly' hung food, even outside the canister
> required areas in some locales...
> 5. A bear canister makes a pretty good camp stool while fixing a meal,
> plus it can be a 'washing machine', too...
>
> My personal opinion - "suck it up" and use a bear canister in the
> Sierra...  Save a bear & 'help' future following hikers, too.
> The usage of bear canisters in the Sierra has been proven to have resulted
> in fewer bear/human 'incidents' in the backcountry.
>
> Having said that, I do not use a bear canister when I visit far NorCal
> each year...
> I 'sleep with' my food - not under my head, but usually within arm's
> reach, using an OpSak as or in my food bag...
> Never had any problems since I started using the OpSaks - never had any
> bear problems before the OpSaks, either - only
> a few rodent incidents and one raccoon encounter...  I'll keep gambling &
> playing the odds in NorCal...
>
> Happy trails!!!
> Jim (PITA)
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