RE: [pct-l] more on bears

Dave-

Lighten up. These are the facts. Force you to use a canister Hell no!

1-Bear Canisters are NOT required. Hanging food is fine EXCEPT for the
stretch between Forrester Pass and Woods Creek [maybe 40 miles] where you
must use bear boxs unless you have a canister. I personally would NOT carry
a canister if I was hiking in Thruhiker season before the crowds. This is
NOT illegial. 

2-Sleeping with food is a bad idea.
Bears are attempting to get food from people who are sleeping with their
food. Two years ago a thruhiker was stalked all night at Echo Lake. The bear
circled her tent ALL night deciding wether to come get the food. She was
petrified and quit the trail. The incident that led to the
Forrester-to-Woods Creek regulations happened in center basin where a bear
crashed a tent to get food. Finally, last year a bear crashed a tent in
Thousand Island Lake. 

3-You CANNOT intimidate a human habituated bear.
The reason that the URSACK doesn't work in the Central Sierra area is that
the bear can't be scared away. Bears spend 4 hours pulling at the sack and
finally wearing a hole in it. This dispite a hoard of campers trying to
scare it away. The URSACK works everywhere else just fine. The Sierra
Garbage Bear is DIFFERENT. Bear experiences in other regions don't apply. 

4-You CAN stealth camp [although you technically may be breaking a
regulation to camp in established campsites]. Just store your food properly.
This means hanging your food in most parts. Everyone else who hikes the
sierra does so [almost everybody anyway]. Why are thruhikers different?
However I would use an URSACK because it is convient. After 30 miles I
wouldn't want to spend hours finding the right tree. The ursack will
CERTAINLY give you enough time to get up and scare the bear away....if it
will scare. Hanging food doesn't do more. In time a determined bear will
defeat even the best food hang....and probably the ursack.

Tom an enigma?
No, this is not a goverment thing for me. I feel the government CREATED
garbage bears by advocating trying to scare bears away from a food hang.
Back in 1986 it wasn't working but the government kept recommending it. My
problem is that a garbage bear may crash my tent in search of food because
of its past experience successfully obtaining food with this method.

Dominating bears?
I'd need a 30-30. They are heavy, illegial and I don't know how to use one.



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