[pct-l] bear canisters on the JMT

[CMountainDave@aol.com]

Hey guys and gals, I'm in a confrontational mood this morning.  Remember the 
bumper sticker "Question Authority"? Why is it that we are about to surrender 
meekly to those who have proven time and time again that they don't know 
diddlely about managing our National Parks. Just ask the people of Los Alamos 
about the latest wisdom of the NPS. Here you people go through all this 
trouble to lighten your packs by ounces and yet very few of you seem to be 
willing to speak out against a regulation that will add 5 to 6 POUNDS of 
weight to your pack. Yes, I'm talking about bear canisters. In my mind, all 
this strategy to keep bears from getting our food amounts to little more than 
bear baiting. Putting food out in the open  or hanging it just tempts the 
bears. It does absolutely nothing to actually deter them from entering our 
camps.  Why are we trying to match wits with the bears (who are obviously 
much smarter than the average Park manager) instead of deterring them from 
entering our camps by making them afraid of us. As for bear boxes, they would 
make stealth camping illegal and require you to camp in designated areas 
only. Either speak out and resist or suck it up and carry all that extra 
weight and/or camp in designated areas only.  Who's to blame for the bear 
problem?  You or the NPS?  They want to shove yet another unnecessary 
regulation down our throats. I say it's way past time to shove it right back. 
I have one for Roy Robbin. When asked if you had a bear canister, were you 
required to show it to them without a search warrant? Personally, I see a 
great opportunity to enrich myself with a violation of my civil rights  
and/or a false arrest lawsuit by baiting the NPS.  Ghandi rules! Mountain 
"renegade" Dave.
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