[pct-l] Haning food from trees above the timberline and other pressing subjects

[fkroger1999@yahoo.com (Frank Kroger)]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

How do you hang anything from a tree "above the timerberline"?
Are there any trees above the timerberline?
Even below the timberline it is hard to hang food because all but  3 of the=
 trees between Campo and Manning are totally useless for hanging. They are =
either not tall enough, the branches droop down, potential hangng spots can=
 be reached from other nearby trees, etc etc.
Yosemite bears apparently have learned how to get down food, even if it is =
properly hung. One technique is to send the cubs up to bounce on the branch=
 the food is hung from. Since counterbalanced bags are never quite exactly =
the same weight the bouncing causes the heavier bag to descend little by li=
ttle until the bears can reach it from the ground. They have also been know=
n to break off the branch.
Most of the critter problems mentioned on the list can be avoided by stealt=
h camping. If you stay away from camp sites you will avoid the creatures. I=
 never had any trouble with them along the entire PCT.
Apart from ants, bear boxes also attract mice. And if you want a visit from=
 a bear camping near a bear box is your best bet.
On another topic, Ray Jardine's PCT book in its latest incarnation is calle=
d: Beyone Back packing - Ray Jardine's guilde to light weight hiking."  0-9=
632359-3-1
Sunglasses? I only used them in snow, not needed in other places.
Cooking? Good for comfort food, but not needed for survival. I gave up cook=
ing after I sent home my stove and lost my titanium pot. Anything that requ=
ires adding "boiling water" or "hot water" can be soaked for 20-30 minutes.=
 It will taste better with hot water, but is edible for survival.  Saves ti=
me too, so more time for walking. Though in town I would not touch my soake=
d food on the trail I never had trouble finishing a batch of soak.



Karen Borski <kborski@yahoo.com> wrote:>So, hanging food from trees above t=
imberline is
illegal?
>Was that law written by Yogi Berra, by chance?

Again, the information that I posted came from a
brochure that was put out by the NPS (Ntl Park
Service). They say in the brochure that "the only
option above treeline is a bear canister." Then, they
say "failure to properly store food in the backcountry
can result in a fine up to $5000."

I'm not going to make a judgmental statement about
what the NPS advises and rules; but I am going to say
that if we want to keep our backcountry wild, and we
believe that a truly wild place is home to native
animals in a natural environment, including truly wild
bears, then we better do all that we can to keep the
food from the bears. And I agree that the only
foolproof guaranteed method of doing so is bear
canister or bear box.

While car-camping in Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP, I
witnessed my campsite neighbors being issued a
citation for improperly storing their food (they had
it sitting around camp while they weren't eating; it
wasn't in a bear box). The parks do police this
policy in high use areas. At least they are trying to
keep the bears wild, even though it only takes a few
non-complying or ignorant people to turn a bear into a
human-food forager. These same neighbors had their
brand new car's back door peeled off by a bear the
next day. Serves them right, but what about that
bear?

Again, the stuff I posted only applies directly to the
CA national parks. In the national forests, I doubt
these regulations apply. But a conscientious hiker
should be really careful with food where bears are
problematic. Also, I doubt that there will be any
park rangers policing proper food storage above
treeline. In all my days above the trees, I've never
ever seen a ranger up there, but I have seen bears. I
don't think it's a matter of what is legal, but a
matter of what is morally right.

It doesn't hurt to know what the park service requires
and advises, especially if you do a lot of hiking
there. Consider your "proper food storage" a good
deed where you can directly contribute to protecting
the future of wild bears.

Nocona





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