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Re: [pct-l] renting bearboxes

At 12:10 PM 6/2/98 +0200, you wrote:
Laqua Nick <Nick.Laqua@hl.siemens.de> wrote:

>As I read, this year there are a lot of bear activities in Yosemite  and
>it is strongly recommended to use bear boxes instead of counterbalancing
>the food. My question is: Are there any possibilities to rent the boxes
>at the northern trailhead (Yosemite) and to give them back at the
>southern trailhead (Mt. Whitney) without driving back to Yosemite.

Bears have been a problem for several years along the JMT, what is new is
the use of bear canisters. This is not a problem just in Yosemite (though
it is especially bad in Lyell Canyon) but along the whole trail.

Nick, you are confusing two different methods of keeping bears away from
your food: bear boxes and bear canisters.

The one you wrote "bearbox" is a large, heavy metal box (about 1.5m x 1m x
1m) that has a locking door, an is chained to a tree. These are placed at
popular camping areas, and are not meant to be carried. These are scattered
along portions of the JMT, usually in the National Parks section. The Inyo
National Forest section of the trail has no bearboxes because the forest
management has decided that bearboxes should not be used in wilderness
areas. A list of bearboxes is available online at
http://www.gorp.com/pcta/bearbox.txt

The second method is a "bear resistant canister" or "bear can" which is a
heavy bulky tube that you put your food in. There are currently two being
sold, one is plastic, one is metal.  They are new, and the government
agencies have started requiring them before they have figured out exactly
how the new rules should work. There is also confusion and controversy in
the agencies that control the JMT about which bear cans are "approved."
This is because the law is new and poorly written with no specified testing
procedure, and certain rangers interpret it one way, while others want to
interpret it another.

The metal canister is currently being tested in Sequoia National Park, and
the testers have thought of an additional test that the plastic can has not
passed, so it may be re-tested. There have been reports of bears breaking
into the plastic canister. They changed the name of the canisters from
"bear proof" to "bear resistant."

What is important is that the bear doesn't get your food. If you use either
one, you should be safe.  I have hiked the JMT 3 times and have never had a
problem, but I am experienced and careful. Many, many hikers lose their
food to the bears. This is a bad thing for the bears because they come to
depend on the hikers, and stop gathering food in a natural way. Sometimes
especially aggressive bears must be killed, so a bear dies for the mistakes
of the humans. 

For pictures and descriptions of the two cans that are available, see:
http://www.sierrawilderness.com/store.html#bear.

I think that the same company that sells the cans on that web page, also
rents them (e-mail them to ask). I also think that if you hike the trail in
a typical 20 days, it may be cheaper to buy the bearcans than rent them.

If you do rent them in Yosemite, I think you may have to mail them from
Lone Pine back to the park. The whole bearcan procedure is new, so you may
have difficulty finding someone who has experience with it.

In any event, have fun on your trip

--
Brick Robbins                    mailto:brick@ix.netcom.com
San Diego, CA                   http://www.netcom.com/~brick 


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