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[pct-l] Bears and Such



As usual when I go away from my computer for a while and come back with a
ton of emails from this list, invariably it's back to the "Bear" topic
again. It seems to go around like one of those songs that get caught in your
head while on a long hike. The harder you work at trying to get rid of it,
the more it peruses you.

Considering the "Bear Problem" is limited to less than 10% of the trail,
from just north of Kennedy Meadows to northern border of Yosemite Park, it
gets more email than just about any other topic.

That's probably to be expected. Since it's the one area that thru-hikers are
constantly being told how to hike. If there's anything we don't like, it's
being told what to do. It just puts a real damper on that feeling of
independence garnered by a thru-hike.

Still whenever the topic comes up, we seem to instantly develop the
communicable problem of bladder control. It's like a virus that has a 10
nanosecond gestation time.

To his credit, even Tom tried to quell the inevitable ruckus by diverting
the poster to past posts. An action with which some seemed to take an
affront.

Personally, I hate bear canisters. It too much akin to placing a red hot
poker on gaping wound to cauterize it. Neither is pleasant, but I never get
off on self mutilation. So like most, I hem and haw and try to stealth my
way around the law.

While we may not like it and fight it with all the energy we can muster,
eventually we'll be forced to give in and carry a canister. At least through
the Sierra range. Why, simply because the forces aligned against us are
bigger and write the law.

Fortunately there are still thousands of miles of trails for us to wander
along unmolested. Though I do love those Sierra Mountains, along with many
thousand others.

--Fallingwater

As a side note. Someone posted a privately sent email to this public forum.
In the land of the Internet, this is considered a no-no. Private emails are
private, and should be kept that way!