Speaking of bear resistant canisters....

[Ratboy]

Just a thought to all those who say bears are not prevalent or whatever...

This was on the trail between my tent and my canister at Garnet Lake in August 2005, which by the way, caused many a camper to overreact at 0130 hours as it moved around the lake, bells whistles, the works...


and lets not forget the other little critters....at Mt. Whitney Main Trail in July 2005




and some larger critter, currently nameless, as seen at San Gorgonio in October 2005


Fruit, nuts, whatever you got it they want it. What saddens me is that many folks believe that since it is biodegradible, it is okay to pitch. Not true. While I would much rather have a very light pack, 2.5-3 lbs of canister, or whatever, is fine with me for peace of mind and knowing my food is okay. The Ursack Hybrid looks and sounds cool, since approval was just granted. Either way, a tool is ony has good as its operator. Also, I just think about the cardio workout with a bit more work versus seeing my tent and bag ripped open by a marmot or whatever what have you. Funny sight is seeing some effectively strung up food, as far as large mammals are concerned, and still a set of squirrels were totally looting the booty.

[hikerduane]

Thanks for the neat pics Ratboy. Cute Pica. I've had a few of the small critters get to food over the years. On a trip into the Marble Mt. Wilderness, with the dog sleeping next to me, my food bag by my head, I could not keep a mouse out of my food. I kept scaring it off, but finally had to roll over on my side facing the pack and the next time it made a rustling noise, I grabbed my pack about where the mouse was and squeezed it with a death grip. Then another one must have been around because I heard a whooze from a owl I guess, then silence for the rest of the night.

[giantbrookie]

Thanks for the neat pics Ratboy. Cute Pica. I've had a few of the small critters get to food over the years. On a trip into the Marble Mt. Wilderness, with the dog sleeping next to me, my food bag by my head, I could not keep a mouse out of my food. I kept scaring it off, but finally had to roll over on my side facing the pack and the next time it made a rustling noise, I grabbed my pack about where the mouse was and squeezed it with a death grip. Then another one must have been around because I heard a whooze from a owl I guess, then silence for the rest of the night.

I used to be pretty cavalier about bears prior to bear cannisters (now carry one) and simply slept on my food for the better part off 30 years. I never had a bear raid, but I did have various critter problems. I once had a chipmunk run off with my block of cheese while I was having lunch at Tyee Lake No 5. I provoked a barrel of laughs from other campers at the lake as I ran after the poor guy going "come back here mutha-----" He didn't run too fast with the cheese and ended up having to jettison it. Another time a marmot ran off with a salame my family and I were eating on Mt. Hoffmann. I'd imagine the salame would really upset his stomach. Yet another time (Chickenfoot Lake, Little Lakes Valley), I made the mistake of leaving some cheese in my main pack as I dayhiked up Mt. Dade. A thunderstorm forced a retreat and I returned to find that some critter had forced his way into the top of the pack, flipping the top flap so rain fell into it. The cheese had been chewed on, and with the rain now formed a real mess. Still another time my dad and I had repeated nocturnal visits at Tower Lake by some little critter that tried to gnaw on every available piece of leather (including grommets on our backpacks and rucksacks). The night ended with virtually every piece of equipment inside our tent. At Smith Lake (Russian Wilderness, Klamaths) I was sleeping under the stars with my boots as my "pillow prop". I awoke to find some critter had chewed up my boots so bad they were barely useable.

[hikerduane]

I had the edges of the pockets on my hiking shorts chewed up some at a lake in the Marble Mt. Wilderness. Since then, I always bring clothes, boots and gear to my tent at night. When I use my Ursack or canister, I put them a short ways away if by myself to hear if anything is at them. When with a group, they like to place the canisters a 100' or more away from camp.

[StumbleBum]

A humorous bear encounter :

We had made camp along Golden Creek, near the trail junction into Fourth Recess. Had hung our food, this being a little before canisters becoming required (not sure they were even available).

It was the middle of the night, I woke up and heard something moving around near my pack. There was enough moonlight to see that it was too big to be anything but a bear - so I gave a loud yell.

The bear took off out of camp like a shot, but chose a direction that took it through the camp. On the way, it encountered one of my friends sleeping in his Bivy. Went right over him, stepping on his butt.

I had a heck of a time convincing him it was a bear, and that I wasn't just messing with him. I don't think he fully beleived me until the next morning, when we could see tracks, etc.

BTW: My kids scout troop reffered to any kind of rodent as "mini-bears", due to the amount of damage that they can do.

[hikerduane]

When Pooch was still alive, we were sleeping out in the open, when one morning we were sleeping in and the squirrels were hitting the cones in the trees. I was just laying there on my side with Pooch by my feet, when I heard a little pitter patter then felt something use my hip for a trampoline I guess. I lay there laughing, thinking about what had just happened. Pooch never noticed a thing.

[ndwoods]

I call bear canisters "bear savers." Don't always use one....but mostly in the central Sierra I do...

[BSquared]

Critter stories: (Off-topic, I know, but I couldn't resist) One evening in the 60s at Ediza Lake we'd made some Richfood no-bake brownies. They were God-awful -- utterly inedible even given the (ahem) apetite-altering materials we usually brought along in those days. Hit the sack without thinking of the pan of chemicals we'd left out, but during the occasional roll-over I thought I could hear tiny gnawing sounds. And in the morning: halleluja! The mess had been taken care of. I'm probably guilty of poisoning some poor forest creature, alas.

[hikerduane]

Poor critter, you put the "other" poison away I bet, so it had nothing to wash it down with. That is cruelty to animals.

[yosemitechris]

another critter story - at Pear Lake 2 summers ago, we camped up on the rocks north of the lake but spent the day lounging near the lake trying to stay cool in the shade. When we got back to camp later that afternoon, we found that it had been invaded by marmots who had scattered our stuff everywhere. My boots and poles were missing and my backpack (hanging in a tree) chewed. They were fond of the sweaty parts. We finally found the poles yards apart dragged under rocks and also the boots, each one dragged in a differentt direction under large rocks and chewed badly but wearable. I learned on Mt. Whitney to stuff and hang my sleeping bag and leave my tent unzipped but these guys were determined!