High Sierra Topix

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sounds like you are going to one of the national parks?

If you keep it clean and put things like ice chests out of site (they know what those look like, also backpacks, bags and boxes) or in the bear lockers, you won't have an issue. Just be sure to get lip balms, lotions, etc out too. Vacuum all the crumbs and stuff out of the floorboards.

If the Clif Bar was still in its wrapper the smell it left is probably insignifigant by now.

If you leave the trunk and/or windows open for a night or two before you leave the scent should be gone for sure if there's no food residue remaining.

If you want to mask food odors from bears plain ol' Pine-Sol works well.

(Marmots: now that's another thing altogether...)

Any thoughts on mothballs? Animal control once recommended that we throw socks stuffed with mothballs and tied off into each end of a culvert where a skunk was residing (after the skunk left in the evening!). That worked. We put mothball socks around our engine when we parked at Onion Valley this year to thwart marmots, but don't have a way of telling if they were effective. We also brought a couple to put on our packs at night to keep the marmots and other rodents from chewing on our packs (I had to replace the straps already). Anyone have some knowledge on this method?

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Our original plan was to take a trip from a trailhead that might have a marmot problem. Then it snowed all winter and spring. But we kept the anti-marmot tactics going.

Ah, the mothball urban legend that never dies. Doesn't work. Nope. Sorry.

George

gdurkee wrote:Ah, the mothball urban legend that never dies. Doesn't work. Nope. Sorry.

George

The basis for using them was flimsy, but I figured it couldn't hurt. My biggest concern was that the smell would draw guys needing to take a leak.