[pct-l] bears and food

[Dan Rufner <drufner@ucsd.edu>]

I wish people wouldn't think different of Tom for not being a thru hiker
and thus his opinions on bears don't fit for bears.  I also think it we are
making assumptions in saying thru hikers come through in early season,
avoiding the bear rush.  How about southbounders, section hikers, and JMT
hikers?

I agree with Brick that early season stealth campers most likely will not
have trouble, but still are prone.  In '96 a thru hiker sleeping out, I
believe with his tarp, had food stashed in his sleeping bag.  A bear
grabbed the feet and ripped the bag off of him in the middle of the night.
Had the bear accidently bit his foot while pulling off the bag it would be
considered a mauling.  That was early season in a stealth camp.

I am pretty anti cannisters, but am rethinking.  In Kearsarge a month ago a
bear sniffed the head of our tent before moving on to ransack another camp.
Another bear at Charlotte lake climbed up to play with our hang but was
unsuccessful.  According to rangers bears are more active than ever, partly
because of new canister laws on the eastern slope, outside of the National
Parks.  One broke the lock off a bear box at Kearsarge lake.  I agree that
it won't be long before they figure out food may be in tents, which will be
bad for weekenders, thru hikers, and the bears themselves.  I hope thru
hikers get rid of the mentality that an extra 8 oz of bear cord for a hang
is going to slow them down too much for a whole two weeks.  I expect to
hear of many more tent maulings in the next years.

I think the best thing to do is put pressure on the forest service and
national parks to put in place more adequate bear protection methods.  This
could be more bear boxes, but those are ugly. I don't know why they are so
against using cables as they do in Glacier and Yellowstone. Bears can not
climb the wire or chew through them, as they do to even large tree
branches.  Anyone know what the resistance is to these?
Dan Rufner
Program Director Wilderness Orientation
Program Director Group Adventures
UCSD Outback Adventures
9500 Gilman Drive, 0004
La Jolla, CA 92093-0004
(619) 534-9665
drufner@ucsd.edu
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