[pct-l] Proof of a Bear-Can

[freehueco at yahoo.com (Michael Deitchman)]

 Lars,

 Sorry, but you are missing the point.

 The rangers have every right to expect you to store
your food properly. However, they don't have the right
to demand proof. If you are in camp, and have clearly
not stored your food properly, they can ticket you.

 Having a bear can is not proof that you will properly
store your food. Part of my beef with Kings Canyon is
that they say that hanging your food is not a legal
method of storing your food. If done properly, hanging
is just as effective as a canister. How can the
government discern who does or does not know how to
hang their food properly?

 Another reason I dislike canisters... I have a GoLite
Trek pack that I use for longer trips, and the bear
canister takes up far more room than it should. I
cannot distribute my packweight properly when there is
a 2.5 pound plastic container standing up in the
bottom (it doesn't fit laying down). It also forces me
to use a compression sack on my Western Mountaineering
sleeping bag, destroying the loft on a $400 sleeping
bag. Should I charge the park service for replacing
the down?

 And I have no problem with permits in the first
place. I think that limiting the crowding in the
backcountry is a good thing.

 As for 'stealth camping', that's only for use in
Yosemite Valley when there are no spots left in Camp
4. In the backcountry, you should be able to camp
wherever you see fit (outside of the 100/200 rule,
that is).

 Mike D

--- Lars Nilsson <carolars@earthlink.net> wrote:

> "And remember, a fed bear 
> is a dead bear."
> 
> Jeff,
> Normally, I don't engage in ad hominim attacks, but
> leave it to a lawyer to encourage people to be part
> of the problem and not the solution when it comes to
> being a steward of our natural resources.  Virtually
> all bear cans weigh less than 2 1/2 pounds, which is
> less than most sleeping bags, less than half of most
> tents, etc.  I am a gram weenie as far as pack
> weight (Summer base is 8 lbs.), but even when I
> carried over 50 lbs I wouldn't consider another 2
> lbs to be a terrible imposition by "the Man."
> This has been the year of the aggressive black
> bears.  Early in the season there was a "problem"
> bear near Little Jimmy in the San Gabriel Mts.  A
> few months later Chilao Campground, about 5 miles
> from the PCT, was closed due to a problem bear. 
> About two weeks before I went backpacking with my
> kids in the Cottonwood Lakes area, a man was injured
> by a bear.  In June or July there was a female and
> cub team that went after unguarded packs.
> You asked, "Is it a time-critical event 
> that also immediately affects public safety?"
> YES it is.  Rangers can easily see if car campers
> are complying with food storage regulations, and
> still bears get food, become "fed bears" and need to
> be destroyed.  The Grizzly Bear is extinct in
> California - does the Black Bear need to meet the
> same fate?   Maybe we can legally ignore a
> backcountry demand for proof of a bearcan.  Maybe we
> can even tell them to "pound sand" when they ask for
> our permits.  John Muir has been dead for 100 years!
>  He hiked the Sierras when California's population
> was about 1/10th of what is is now, and the US about
> 1/3rd of now.  Wilderness must be regulated with our
> cooperation if we want it to remain wild.  Since
> less than 1% of Americans travel into wilderness
> areas, we can't reasonably expect much in the way of
> public resources (i.e. tax money) to be spent there.
>  With rangers oversight, we must police ourselves. 
> Some rangers can be rude authoritarians, but there
> are many pigs out there carrying backpacks who think
> they practice "stealth camping".
> 
> Lars Nilsson
> 
> 
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=====
Don't panic!

" The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing."
http://www.freehueco.com

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