High Sierra Topix

markskor wrote:Additionally, hanging any food in YNP is taboo - (for good reason as Yosemite bears know how to defeat this practice when given enough time). However, as someone who goes out for 12+ consecutive days, not all food fits in my Bearikade to start. I shun to carry a second can...not enough pack room. I would prefer to hang the rest and keep a close watch the first few days out, but as any hang is easily spotted from afar - tickets given...I usually am generally forced to sleep with the rest and hope. Hanging would seem to be a better/safer alternative.

I see people "hanging" their food six feet off the ground in Yosemite every year. Last summer I saw this within 20 feet of the JMT in Lyell Canyon. Even when the right kind of tree is nearby it takes skill to hang properly, a skill that most backpackers have not developed. It seems to me a better defense is a highly resistant bag. But I doubt the idea of an Ursack as a second container would go over well because it is potentially confusing. It's simpler to demand canisters in all cases and accept that there will never be 100% compliance.

I would. I have the green one that came out in 2009 and was approved for that season. I use it almost every summer and am happy with it. I am also very careful to use it properly.


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First off, I appreciate all the suggestions. I know this is a sensitive subject for some and appreciate not getting flamed over it. If everyone took proper care of storing food, disposing waste and keeping their site clean we wouldn't need bear canisters. For hundreds of years people have been hanging their food and that's what I was taught.

In looking online I came across the Ursack, which claims to have been added to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee approved list in July 2014. Does anyone have any real world knowledge of these bags?

http://www.ursack.com/product/ursack-s29-allwhite/

Brien wrote: If everyone took proper care of storing food, disposing waste and keeping their site clean we wouldn't need bear canisters.

Respectfully, disagree...Bears are sneaky opportunists - they have learned to find the easiest food available - anywhere. Way back when (when we hung our food legally), we were clean and careful then too. Bears, (smart critters), through hunger, and trial and error, readily discovered ways into our high calorie stashes and, clean camp or not, took advantage of any easy scores available. Once successful, they returned.

The bear canister is the only 99.9% successful/ cost effective way of keeping backcountry food safe from bears today. It puts the task directly on the backpacker.

RE Ursacks...IMHO, Ursacks, while a successful deterrent for small critters, are not the answer to bears. While temporarily legal again this season... (Why?...long story there), they are not effective. Even when used correctly, a determined bear can work the Ursack - crushing food inside - essentially providing the bear a taste; once getting a taste - they return. Again, "A fed bear is a dead bear."

The Sierra is the bear's home.

The other advantage a regular bear can (Garcia, Bearikade, Bearvault) has going for it is there aren't any strings on them. If a bear does get to your Ursack, there's a really good chance the bear will run off with it easily.

Also, if you use the search feature after you login here (upper right) and type in ursack, you will see something like this:

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&keywords=ursack

Yes, we've talked about it here extensively.

Your question has been a regular topic for years on backpacking boards and a major sermon element at ranger stations for those requesting wilderness permits even where they have not been required so am surprised you don't seem to be familiar with the issues?

As noted the most reliable, most secure, least stressful strategy is to carry one of the canisters. I'm an old timer too who has gone decades without bears ever getting into my food despite enduring many nights when they visited including back in my counter balancing days. But that is not to say some of those nights a bear might have carried off our food if we had not scared them off. Or that we got much sleep haha.

I own 2 Garcias and an Ursack. And I am a fan of the latter for limited usage. When required I do carry a canister even when I'd rather not as I did last year going over Kearsarge Pass. But am at odds with the SIBBG Ursack decisions and weak arguments. Those using an Ursack where legal can potentially keep food from bears if they use it wisely. Likewise bears sometimes get into food with those who only use canisters because backpackers can be lazy regarding keeping all their food inside them or even securing the lid since it doesn't have an LED on top telling people at night when it is locked or not. All these food protection methods require vigilence and thoughtful processes. Unfortunately there are and will always will be careless visitors in the backcountry and that is why canisters are being pressured for everyone's use by those making policy. Thus their strategy is to prevent the lowest common denominator among us (yes that means you Homer...DUhhh) from screwing up. Unfortunately authorities have never really got all thru hikers (am not one of them) on board for obvious reasons like a single canister barely fits a week's worth of reasonable food, and worse they removed bear boxes along many thru trails which was a whole other can of worms thru hikers can only blame themselves for.

Amen

Of course we take one in Yosemite and SEKI...but we now carry one every time in the Sierra. They may weigh more, but they make life simpler for us. And for the bears.

balzaccom wrote:Amen

Of course we take one in Yosemite and SEKI...but we now carry one every time in the Sierra. They may weigh more, but they make life simpler for us. And for the bears.

This. I even carry one in the San Gabriels. I lost a loaned pack to a bear a few years ago down here.

Pretty heavy debate over Ursack approval on the HST Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7021041900/

Respectfully, a lot of selfish, entitled, and ignorant people are advocating making the ursack legal to use in our Sierra by signing a petition.
Sad because the sack does not/ never worked effectively against bears ...it invites bears into camp.
Many there on FB carp about the bearcan's weight as being too heavy. If weight is that big an issue - stay home.
I detest that some feel their personal enjoyment is more important than the bear's wellbeing.
IMHO, the petition sucks.
just my 2¢