Just wondering about bear bagging practices on the AT. Hiking in the PNW I wouldn’t dream of spending a night without hanging my food out of a hungry bear’s reach, but so far my reading of AT trail journals seems to indicate that very few folks hang their food. Is that correct? What do you all recommend?
Gator
We always, always, always hung our food bag. All food was stored in zip-lock bags according to meals…breakfast, lunch/snacks, and dinners. Then placed in a dry sil sack. Had a small problem with mice one time while the food bag was hung in a shelter, and one minor incident in New Hampshire with chipmunks when we hung the food from a tree. We never encountered a problem with black bears. We realized early on that the bears were more affraid of us than we were of them. Just don’t tempt them and they will stay away. Slinky Dog 2007 GA-ME.
Slinky
I always hang my food unless I have my dogs with me. They keep any critters out of camp, so no need to hang it.
Phreak
If I stayed in a shelter or tented by a shelter that provided bear cables or bear boxes, that’s where I’d put my food. If no cables or boxes and everyone was hanging their food on the “mouse-proof” lines (but not “bear-proof”) in the shelter, then I did too. Otherwise, hung my food in a tree. Last year I heard that several food bags were taken by a problem bear at Watauga Lake shelter and the bear was put down a few days later. Heard of two other places where there was a lot of bear activity and purposely didn’t stay at either of them. Trail telegraph seemed to be pretty good about letting you know where the bear activity was occurring.
Croft
It is true a lot of AT hikers do not bear bag their food or at minimum they use the mouse hangers in the shelters. The mouse hanger is a string hung from the rafters with an upside down tin can to stop the mice from climbing down the string to reach the food. Some hiking clubs provide cables for hoisting the bear bag, others have metal boxes, and the Shenandoah s have bear poles. The rest of the time it is up to you whether you put your food up in a bear bag or keep it in your tent.
I personally hang my food whenever possible, I only need to do a better job than the next guy. If anyone has ever backpacked in New York’s Adirondack Mountains knows what it is like to lose your food to a bear. It’s no fun change plans and hike out hungry to find replacement food.
If a bear should encounter a hikers food it has the potential to become a nuisance bear. Once it scores an easy meal it will come back for more. A fed bear is a dead bear.
Old Goat
I hang my food religiously, too. If you have a good throwing arm, it only takes a minute or two and your food is safe, not so much from bears, but from the rodents and ravens. (I you don’t have a good throwing arm, different story.) Ravens ruined my food bag in the San Juan Islands when I had my back turned 100’ away. And an ermine ruined my pack while I was getting water at a stream a few feet away. It only took a few minutes to chew a large hole in everything that was between it and the food. Maybe I’ve had horrible luck, but I don’t leave my food unattended and unhung for even one minute. Bears don’t worry me so much (OK, maybe grizzlies do)–it’s the smaller stuff that’ll get it. It’s just a habit now.
Garlic
Personally i always hung my food. even if it meant spending half an hour trying to get my cable up into a tree, and hitting myeslf in the face with a rock.
I hiked with someone who didnt and ended up with a bear inside their hammock tarp.
she started hanging things more religeously afterwards.
Scree Freak
I’m surprised to see no comments from the URSACK folks. As another PNW’er (re: the first comment in this subject) I’ve always slept with my URSACK, except Wonderland Trail, where they have bear poles. I’ve not (yet) hiked the AT, but have hiked many sections along the Oregon & Wash PCT and many of the Wilderness areas in the PNW. If there’s a chance of a bear issue, I won’t eat & camp in the same area (or use the “triangle” approach to laying out camp). I also keep everything clean, don’t use “smelly” foods, keep all in the URSACK odorless food bags, wrapped tightly/sealed in the URSACK, which I stuff into my pack that sits at the foot of my “bed”. Others in the group have been nailed by field mice (regular nylon food sacks) where I haven’t. (Yes, rodents are a bigger concern than bears.)
trek-or
Bear bagging is completely unnecessary on the AT. Places that have bears (GSMNP, SNP, and Jersey) have cables/boxes/poles at the established camp sites. The only thing you really should worry about getting into your food is mice.
Matt Zion