Backpacking With Grizzlies

[JWreno]

I have car camped in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons but never have backpacked in those areas. I would also like to consider a backpacking trip in Glacier NP. My only hesitation is backpacking in Grizzly country. We hung our food in the 1990s but now we use use cans. Bearikade Expeditions in the Serra Nevada area but I don't think this are Grizzly approved. Any advice for someone with 25 years of Sierra backpacking experience but none in Grizzly country?

[maverick]

JWreno wrote:

Bearikade Expeditions in the Serra Nevada area but I don't think this are Grizzly approved.

Wildideas writes:

Has the Bearikade been tested with bears?

The Bearikade has been subjected to the ultimate test – hungry bears! The Bearikade passed both captive Grizzly and Black Bear testing in 2000. It also passed machine based standardized structural testing in the same year. The Bearikade has been in field service all over North America since 1998. No food has ever been lost to a wild animal from a properly locked Bearikade. That is a test regimen far more rigorous and meaningful than anyone could possibly simulate in the lab or in tests with zoo animals.

http://www.wild-ideas.net/about-willd-i ... kade-faqs/

[rlown]

I haven't been backpacking there, but I've been there a few times.

Found this page: http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/b ... hiking.htm

sounds like they have designated backcountry campsites. Looks like they hang food still.

Anyway, I'm sure you already saw that page, but I'd call and ask about the can. No can listing on any page I could find for Yellowstone.

Another external site which has nice pics, but is a rewrite of the previously posted link included above: http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/campw_bears.html

Many pages on Bear Spray though!!

Russ

[Wandering Daisy]

If bear cans are optional then I would use the Bearikade. If your campsite has a hanging set-up, so much the better. This is what I use when I backpack in grizzly country in the Wind Rivers. The fact that the Bearikade is not "officially" approved for grizzlies, has a bit of politics in it. Last time I looked this up, only the locally made bear can (made in Montana) was approved. But if the bear can is required then you have to play that game. I would definitely take bear spray. I use the larger 11 oz spray. I want to be able to use it several times. So far, I have not had to use it. Thank goodness.

[hikerduane]

I'm headed to Glacier in mid July. Solo trip. Canisters are not allowed, food etc. has to be hung on cables/wire I understand. No budget for bear boxes yet. Most of the Park has backcountry campgrounds where you have to stay, two tents per campsite, quota on bpers per CG.
Duane

[Fly Guy Dave]

I did a two week sea kayak trip along Admiralty Island in Alaska a few years back and that is PRIME coastal brown bear turf and all we did was hang our food/toiletries from trees. There were no designated campsites either, so we camped whenever we were tired and could find a suitable place. We saw tons of bears, but had zero issues with them.

I'm planning on a solo fishing/backpacking trip into "The Bob" in Montana in a few weeks and this time I'll have my can and I might hang it as well. Perhaps that's overkill, but I know that there are plenty of black bears there and the possibility of a grizz, so both might be in order.

The key thing to remember is the "triangle of safety." Camp at one spot, 100 yards or so away, cook and eat your food there and then 100 yards away from there is where you store your food/toiletries. If you saw this arrangement from above, it would look like a big triangle, as everything is 100 yards away from each other. Some people also recommend using non-scented deodorant and changing out of the clothes you were wearing when you ate food.

[oldranger]

Go with someone slower than you!

Mike

[sparky]

Deodorant in the backcountry??

[Fly Guy Dave]

Deodorant in the backcountry??

I think of it as a consideration if you are with other people.

Going solo? Fergitaboudit!

[Hobbes]

We're going up to Banff & Jasper national parks in the Canadian Rockies in August. Periodically, Parks Canada closes trail sections if there has been a lot of Grizzly activity. We're staying at the Jasper park lodge, and while a trail closure by the golf course (trail #7) has just been lifted, these people were quite proud of themselves with their encounter a few years ago:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhot ... berta.html

Grizzly bear and cubs on trail 7 in Jasper. We scared her off no problem:


However, there is a new closure in effect by the Bow river:

AREA CLOSED
Pursuant to subsection 36(1) of the National Parks General Regulations, the following area is closed to all traffic and travel by order of the Superintendent, Lake Louise, Yoho & Kootenay National Parks:

WHERE:
Bow River Loop trail, from the South West end of the electric fence to the pedestrian bridge over the Bow River by site 135.

WHY:
Grizzlies frequenting the area.

I've got a couple of (longish 15+- mile) day hikes planned, and the friendly staff at the hotel have offered me the use of their bear spray. One of the rangers also asked me if I could take along a survey form to record any wildlife (aka animal sauvage in Francais); hopefully all I'll see are just elk and rodents.