Re: [pct-l] bear canisters + bear story.

["R.J. Baynum" <rjbaynum@nidlink.com>]

ya know... back in the old days.. that bear would have been shot on
sight, maybe if we brought that back the bears would be a little bit
hesitant?
R.J.

Mark Damish wrote:
> 
> > If you are traveling in this area you must pay attention to proper food storage.
> >  Food hangs DO NOT WORK.
> 
> Last year, while hiking between Yos valley and Red's meadow, I met
> a large bear.  I had camped well away from other hikers, and had my
> food stored in one of the 'new' Aluminum bear canisters.  I found
> what I thought was a 'good hanging' tree, and hung a bag containing
> sunscreen, Ammonium Lactate (spelling) lotion, and a bunch of non
> smelly items.
> 
> I crashed at sunset, and about an hour later I awoke to 'big noise'
> in the campsite.  A large bear was trying hard to stand on his back
> paws and reach the bag... ...No luck, too high.  He then climbed up
> the tree to about the level of the bag and tried reaching out, but the
> bag was too far out for it.  He then went up to the branch where it
> was suspended from, and it looked like he was trying to break off
> the branch.  No luck, as the branch was too thick.  Next he tried
> to go out onto the branch, but he hesitated, as I think that the
> branch wouldn't support him perhaps.
>   While this was going on, I was banging furiously on my pot, trying
> to scare the bear away, while looking out for any 'baby bears'.
> Except for some stares, illuminated yellow eyes in my flashlight, the
> bear ignored me.  At one point on the ground, he did take a couple
> of steps towards me (20-25 paces away), and I took a couple back.
>   Back to the tree.  The bear climbed the tree above the branch
> where the food was counterbalanced, and for a minute I thought
> that I was going to witness a 'kamakazi dive'.  Instead, the bear
> position himself such that his front paws were on the branch, while
> the rear was on the tree, just above the crotch of the branch.
> He then started applying his weight on the branch/tree, and
> the suspended bag and counterbalance slowly started a pendulum
> motion.  He kept this up until the bags started swinging a bit
> more, and then climbed halfway down the tree, and grabbed the
> bag, and brought it to the ground.  One quick bite, and he
> bit through the bag, a spare water bag folded in quarters, and
> into the deet and ammonium lactate lotion.  With a quick snort,
> he started to leave as if in disgust, but came back and sniffed
> the bag and then went for the aluminum food container.
>   He lifted the food container lengthwise between it's paws,
> while stand on it's hinds, and I noted that his paws were
> not parallel, which helped size the distance between his
> shoulders at quite a bit larger than 18 inches.  After
> holding it for a bit he left.
>   I went over to examine the bag, but he returned, and I
> slowly backed up.  One last sniff, and he left, and I
> realized that how comical it must have looked if anybody
> was watching... ...Standing totally naked, except for boots,
> banging a pot to scare the bear, but too apprehensive to hurl
> a rock for about 40 minutes.  I realized I was getting cold,
> and headed back to my tent to attempt sleep.
> 
> The next day there was a deer in the site, who didn't seem
> to mind me, and was often eating only 15-20 paces away.  I
> didn't know if deer were just used to people, or in the
> wild never learned to be afraid of them, but it felt
> very serene after serealistic night before.
> 
> Two day's later I was required to show a permit to a ranger,
> and while digging out my hiking papers, I told the ranger
> the story.  She told me, in no uncertain terms, that I should
> have chased the deer away.  The rest of the hike went well,
> with spectacular views, and the only other bears that I saw
> on the trip, were at the Tuolomene Meadows tent site, where
> almost everything was stored in bear boxes.
> 
> All in all, I was glad that I had read what I could about bears,
> which made 'my' decision to carry a 2.5 lb bear canister a
> must for the trip.
> 
> Your know your living when...
> ...Mark
> 
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