[pct-l] Bear Boxes vs. Canisters, Ursacks

[kborski@yahoo.com (Karen Borski)]

I haven't seen a recent mention of the bear boxes in
the recent discussions about bear canisters.  Bear
boxes are the metal stationary boxes located at
popular campsites.  They are in the national parks and
in some places in the national forests.  I have a
current list of where these boxes are located that I
got at Yosemite and Kings Canyon NPs on my recent JMT
hike.  On the first leg, I rented a (3-pound? $5) bear
canister from the NPS on their recommendation.  They
said you must "declare" a food protection method:  you
can counterbalance or carry a canister.  I opted for a
canister.

I ended up using the bear boxes at each campsite
instead.  Waste of energy carrying the canister.  I
couldn't fit 5 days of food into one anyhow.  So, on
the second leg of my hike, I turned in my canister and
just used the bear boxes.  Using these boxes confines
you to certain campsites, but they are super
convenient.

They say that some bears have been brazen enough to
drive hikers off their food while they are taking a
break on the trail, eating lunch or dinner.  I don't
think most thru-hikers would be driven off their food.
 On the JMT/PCT, I had one volunteer "bear protection"
advocate ask me whether I was carrying a canister.
She offered a pamphlet on how to protect your food
from bears.  She wasn't handing out tickets, just
information.

Don't forget that URSACKS don't work - at all.  The
rangers advertise that they are not valid food
protection, and I can actually vouch for them.  I was
at a bear rescue center last year where they had
tested ursacks on the resident bears.  They had an
informative display there about the testing, showing
how they loaded the ursack with typical hiker food,
including a jar of peanut butter.  It took something
like 1.3 seconds for the bear to tear the ursack to
shreds during the ursack test.  Of course, ursack's
manufacturer says nothing about this in their
advertising.

If anyone wants a list of the current bear box sites
(as listed by the NPS), just let me know.

Crummy day at work for me, so I'm praying for no El
Nino next year.  I'm ready to get out on that trail!

Nocona

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