Bear Canisters on the PCT

imported
#1

Question for all seasoned PCT section/thru hikers:

Are bear canisters a REAL need?

I would love to hear some discussion on this.

Peace and solidarity – Nightfever

Nightfever

#2

Bear canisters are a need in the yosim area you can get a ticket if you are caught with out one. As for the sierras, I would recomend one but they have place bear boxes at all camp sights as of 03. if you plan on taking a different route along the JMT section your chance of bear activity will rise and I don’t think you’ll find as many boxes. plus regular bearbag hanging does not work you have to use the counter balance method and trees are only in the meadows were the bugs are

Goof

#3

I think that a lot of the “bear talk” is paranoia or Bearanoia. Every time I would tell someone out on the trail where I was planning on camping that night I would hear “oh, there’s a big bear problem there!”. I didn’t see ANY bears during my JMT Thru 7/17-8/2. However, I am very glad that I brought the canister! Food is a necessity when you’re out there and losing any or ALL of it would have ended my trip or at least it would have forced me to hike out a day and a half to get to some podunk town or campground store where they charge an arm and a leg for things like ramen noodles. I prefer to eat the food I want and would have hated losing any of it to a bear. The canisters are heavy, yes, but I would rather cut weight by not bringing TRULY unnecessary items.

Hiker Chick

#4

The following is based on 17 years experience in the Southern Sierra - mainly Sequoia / Kings Canyon; nearly all of it solo, usually 2 weeks at a time, so bear canisters are impractical.
There appear to be 2 types of Sierra Black Bears - backcountry bears and campground bears. All bets are off for campground bears - I’m constantly amazed by their intelligence and creativity once they have gotten used to humans. Backcountry bears will avoid you - unless you make the temptation overwhelming. I try to stealth camp and use a Slickrock tent (perfect for 1, need to really like your partner if used for 2) and keep my food (mostly freeze dried / Raman)in the tent in ziplock bags in stuff sacks in the closed-up pack then boots, socks, t-shirt etc, on top of the pack. OK - you have to be able to tolerate your own “fragrance” - and coverup strength improves remarkably as a function of sweaty days on the trail. No scientific data whatsoever to support this - but started using this after the second time an ingenious bear robbed my (in my mind, but not so fast…) very properly hung food storage bag.
Guess I’ve seen bears on about half my extended hikes, but only 2 “encounters” - both of which can be logged against the old John Wayne phrase - “Life is hard, but it’s a lot harder when you’re stupid.”.

booger

#5

When you say, “Do I need a bear can?”, I guess I’d ask, “What do you want it for?” I ask, because-- regulations aside-- I think there are two different mindsets about bears and food in the hiking community.

One kind of hiker thinks “A bear could get my food, disrupting my trip.” This is Hiker Chick’s focus in her post above. In fact, she suspects the bear problem is exaggerated.

The second kind of hiker thinks, “A bear could get my food, advancing it toward habituation, problem behavior, and destruction.” I’d say that my perspective has evolved in this direction. I don’t want my trip disrupted, but that’s probably a secondary issue for me now. Since the Park Service still has to kill food-habituated bears in Yosemite, I’d say there is a definite bears-and-food problem.

These two attitudes don’t necessarily lead to different behaviors. For example, Hiker Chick ends up being very careful with her food, which benefits both her and the bears. But these different perspectives can lead to some conversations where people really don’t understand each other.

Anyway, just an issue that was on my mind and seemed sort of relevant.

Eric

#6

Have to agree with booger on this one. If you avoid the heavy use campsites in the Sierra you’ll avoid the campsite bears. I used a cannister but it seemed unnessesary as soon as I stealth camped.

Ross aka Cheers :cheers

Ross

#7

I used a cannister where ever they were required(and recommend doing so) but otherwise I kept my food in my tent without a problem. I usually didn’t camp by water either. I would double bag my food bag in garbage bags and put my dirty socks on top of that at night. Also if I thought I heard a bear outside I would make my own intimidating sounds and shake my tent which worked well - it was usually just deer though. I came across two bears on the trail and they both ran off when they saw me. Bears in Yosemite, Sequoia etc. are potentially dangerous since many are not afraid of people like wild bears are.

Pika

#8

I will be going for the woman’s speed record on the PCT in 2005…I travel very light, I won’t be using a canister…

I did a Yo Yo speed record on the JMT this past month…The only bear I saw was near Reds Meadow…

I got stopped by a ranger, I told her I had no canister she was all ready to take my name until I told her I was doing a Yo Yo on the JMT fast packing/running the double… She was impressed and let me go…

Cheers,
Catra

Catra