[pct-l] Bear Cannisters in the North Cascades

[geoffreys at gfsnet.org (Geoffrey Selling)]

"Brian Forestell" <briandid@telusplanet.net> writes:
>Two years ago my buddy and I section hiked the Washington portion of the
>PCT.  BEARS ARE NOT A PROBLEM.  I would never carry one of those freakin
>bear cannisters unless I was in the National Park Section of the Sierras.
>The bears in that area seemed to have developed skills for getting at
>people's food.  Their ability to break into cars is spooky.   Never under
>estimate an animal that can be trained to drive a motorcycle....
>
>I have backpacked for over 30 years.  I live in Alberta, Canada and in many
>areas we hike in places just stuffed with grizzlies.  We have always hung
>our food without incident.  When we were in Washington we also hung our
>food.  Me, I wouldn't sleep with my food but I have talked with several
>dozen thru hikers who do.  The black bears in the north cascades are timid
>and have not been habituated to people.  They haven't had the training of
>the Sierra Park bears (if you move away from the popular hiking areas in the
>Sierras you don't have the same problems).   The few camp bears in the
>Cascades have not yet learned the skill of getting food properly hung.  You
>don't need to use any fancy counterbalancing act.  Just get it (your food
>bag) at least 15 feet off the ground and 10 feet away from the main stalk of
>the tree.  We did not start hanging our food until we got past Steven's
>Pass.  We saw almost no evidence of a bear.  When we finally saw a bear near
>Stehekin it could not get away from us fast enough.  It was literally
>falling over itself to get away from us.
>
>I never lost one second of sleep thinking about bears.   This advise does
>not apply to JMT portions of the PCT.  In those places we carry a bear
>cannister and gripe and complain
>
>See you up the trail
>
>Brian
>

Very helpful advice!   I thought a cannister would make my pack (already too heavy) unnecessarily so!   Thanks so much. See you up there some time!   Geoffrey