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[pct-l] Re: Bear Killed in Section D



Greetings:

I want people to act responsibly with food in bear habitat. I do not want
bears to be killed.

Given that, the idea that with the thousands of people on parts of the PCT
each year, expecting people to act  perfectly in a way to prevent or deter
bear incidents is, IMHO, unreasonable. From what I've seen, bears will do
anything they can learn to do to get at food.

Everyone I talked with who had camped in Yosemite in August had experienced
a bear event. Mine came from the next campsite at the backpacker camp in
Tuolomne Meadow. A family had prepared a gourmet meal and was seated at a
picnic table eating it. One of the women shined a flashlight at the food
locker five feet away from her to help her husband find some food. It
wasn't her husband at the locker, but a bear. They chased the bear away from
the locker through my area, a few feet from my tent. No big deal. A ranger
later came by and chided the family for having the food locker door open.
They were five feet away! Okay,  they weren't perfect. But perfect isn't
going to happen.

Another hiker had set his pack down to climb Half Dome. He was a few feet
from the pack when a bear walked past him and grabbed the pack. What had he
done wrong? Nothing.

I don't buy the idea that we teach bears to be problems. They learn it on
their own.

Bear canisters work. No one I  met or observed had a problem with a bear
trying to get into a canister.

I've read Tom's instructions for getting ten days food in a canister. The
food he lists isn't food I want to eat for ten days. So far, the best I've
been able to do is get six days food in a Bearikade Weekender. I'm looking
for ideas for sections where re-supply is more difficult. I want to do the
best I can. I think most people do. I'm still looking for suggestions.

Peace,
Jim