[pct-l] Stealth camping - a safe bet for the thru hiker

[brick at fastpack.com (brick@xxxxxxxxxxxx)]

At 05:05 PM 6/19/03, Steve Courtway wrote:
>  I agree so I think the best answer for
>beginners to bear alley in the high sierra, folks who
>ask how soft it is sleeping high, is to just carry a can.

Beginner thru hikers at Campo won't be beginner's by the time they hit the 
Sierra.

Bear alley is very short, considering the length of a thru hike and the 
speed with which a thru hiker is moving.

Figure that Bear Alley, is from Crabtree Meadows to Toulomne Meadows, about 
175 miles.

At the normal 20-25 miles a day for a thru hiker this is 7-8 days in bear 
alley. Considering you can probably use bear boxes a couple of nights 
(Woods Creek and Vidette Meadows come to mind as likely places,) and that 
you will probably spend one night at VVR, and another at Reds Meadows, that 
leaves probably 3-4 nights where a thru hiker needs a can. Add to that, you 
are also hiking through bear alley before most hikers, so yogi hasn't even 
moved back up the high campsites and easy pickings yet.

It seems to me that all this arguing about bear cans for 3-4 miles of use 
is a waste of time.

In my experience, the loud bear can proponents are mostly weekenders 
preaching to the thru hikers. (sometimes I miss Tom Reynolds' tirades....)

Once again, in the spirit of ultralight, match the gear to the need. If you 
are a JMT hiker in high season, or a camp-and-sit weekender, by all means 
take a can: it is worth the 2#.