[pct-l] Bear 'Can Usage

Thu Feb 7 23:04:51 CST 2013

I will not.  I alternate year for year with my wife on who chooses our
summer activities.  This is her year, and it's a long trip to France.
 Hell, she didn't throw me out after a 5 month hike of the CDT last year.
 She's a saint in my book.

I'm putting together the program for KO, but Squatch will be doing the
MC'ing and all else to do with introducing the presenters.  Thank you so
much Squatch!  And if any of you new hikers want to see some wonderful
films of life on the PCT, just order up, "Walk, Still Walking, Even More
Walking, or Walked," or all four.  They're great flicks.

But no, I'm bummed I will not be at KO, but my agreement with my wife keeps
me walking and still married, and that's all good.

Shroomer

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 2:01 PM, C <chrisfoley81 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Shroomer will you be at the kick off this year?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 7, 2013, at 11:29 AM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > 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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