[pct-l] bears......

[java2@ix.netcom.com (Tom Hopkins)]

I have a book on backpacking in bear country. One of the things it said
is that a bear has a sense of smell one million times better than ours.
So, I am thinking with one million times better sense of smell, Yogi can
distinguish between bad breath and food in a tent. I think they can also
distinguish between the faint odor on clothes and a food bag. I have had
bears sniff and poke at my bear cannister and  go thru my garbage
bag....but leave me alone in a tent 30 yards away even though I am about
as trail ripe as you can get.
There are some really bad ass bears out there. They are relocated from
Yosemite Valley under some sort of three strike law[??????]. There is a
bear in LeConte Canyon on the pct that Ranger Dave will warn you about
as soon as he sees you. He is  a bad hombre[the bear not Dave]. He got
hiker food about 5 times the previous week to my trip in '99.
If you think hangin' food along bear alley is the way to go...look in
the trees near the more popular campsites in Lyell Canyon, Purple Lake,
Virginia Lake, or Tulley Hole and notice all the parachute cord and
nylon fragments...remnents from "expert bear baggers."
Tom in Sacramento