[pct-l] Ursack Minor (or similar)

[Sean Nordeen]

If I was hiking the AT and staying in the shelters, then I found an Ursack
Minor to be very helpful.  Mice would play with it for a few minutes before
giving up and moving on to easier prey.   However, I didn't see any need
for one on the PCT.

On the PCT, I carried a large cuben fiber stuff sack by zpacks outside of
the Sierra Nevada (and no the material had nothing to do with my success,
it was just lighter for the strength).  I normally slept with my food when
not using a bear can.  As I cowboy camped (ie. slept outside) all but 9
days of the trail, I obviously did not store it in a tent.  Sometimes I had
it in my backpack that I always keep by my head and some times I used it
under my head when I was wearing more of my clothes to sleep in.

My strategies to keep mice and such away was to carefully pick a camp
site.  I never camp in meadows (too many field mice).  I try to avoid
heavily used campsites (too many creatures are use to people having food
there including bears).  If there is signs of burrowing in the area or
holes in the ground nearby, I moved on (something lives there and best to
avoid it).  Not related to food storage, but if I saw insects crawling
around, I move on since I was cowboy camping.  I didn't have any issues
with crawling insects when I slept as a result.  Twice I encountered mice
running around the area in the evening after stopping for the night.  It
quickly was apparent that they weren't scared of people and I could only
chase them away for a minute or two before they came back.  I found it was
easier to just stuff everything back in my pack and move campsites 1/4mile
away rather than being annoyed by them all night.  Some people that didn't
move and thought their tent would protect them, found a hole later in their
netting.


I see no reason to change how I did it.

-Miner

>I'm planning a PCT thru next year and I'm wondering if most people carry
an Ursack Minor,
>Ratsack, or similar device to fend off marauding mice and such (prior to
bear canister country).
>How did you handle food storage during the So Cal section? Food in tent?
Op-Sacks? Finding
>suitable tree branches for hangs? Other? What have you heard about the
success (or lack
>thereof) of the various strategies? If you happen to do the PCT next year,
how would you choose
> to handle your food storage? Thanks for your wisdom! Timberline