Bear cans High Sierra

imported
#1

What’s the latest on bear can requirements for PCT’ers in the High Sierra? Can you still hike between the lockers each day or do you have to carry a canister regardless? My focus is on Crabtree Meadows to Tuolumne in particular. Thanks.

len

#2

Canisters are required on the JMT, which is partly on the PCT. Jakebrake

Jakebrake

#3

As far as I know they are still required on the JMT portion and the surrounding areas. You can rent one when you enter and drop it off at the other end for $5 a day if I remember correctly. I purchased one for my JMT hike and actually ended up liking it. Its too bad the draw backs of weight and the amount of space they take up negate all the positive things about them such as piece of mind that your food is protected from animals and the elements, makes a nice seat, doubles as a washing machine, etc.

Big B

#4

As it stands there are no reported changes from last year’s requirements. Bear canisters are required starting at Guyot Pass (PCT mile 750-763) through to Dorothy Lake Pass which is about 60 miles north of Tuolumne Meadows at PCT mile mark 998.

Most PCT hikers send their bear canisters to Kennedy Meadows (PCT mile 703.

NedtheFed

Ned

#5

Thanks guys. I wonder if regulations require that your food be kept in the bear can during the day or only while camping. It’d be nice to tote along the smallest, lightest possible can on the outside of the pack as more of a token gesture for the sake of legalities, ya know?

len

#6

Len, the rule is that your food must be within arms length when not in the canister. A few hikers have told me they carry their food on the inside of the pack in a food bag while hiking and the empty canister on top of the pack.

If you take this approach it means your pack has to stay with you where you go. That means for water, take a whizzzz or whatever. Every now and then Rangers seem to sneak up on you when your least expecting it like Candid Camera.

Ned

#7

Sorry I’m a little ‘late’ to the discussion, but some clarification is needed… Also sorry that it’s somewhat lengthy, too!

Bear canister ‘required’ areas on the PCT are as follows (& the same as 2011):
Cottonwood Pass (Inyo NF), PCT mile 750, to Guyot Pass (Seki NPs), PCT mile 763;
Forester Pass (Seki NPs), PCT mile 780, to Pinchot Pass (Seki NPs), PCT mile 808;
Above Tully Hole (Sierra NF, admin. by Inyo NF), PCT mile 890, to past Duck Lake Trail (Sierra NF, admin. by Inyo), PCT mile 895;
Sierra NF/Inyo NF boundary (Inyo NF), PCT mile 902, to wilderness boundary S of Reds Meadow (Inyo NF), PCT mile 907;
Reds Meadow (Inyo NF), PCT mile 908, to Dorothy Lake Pass (Yosemite NP), PCT mile 998 - except approx. 1/2 mile near Agnew Meadows, PCT mile 914, canisters are not required…

Seki still honors the “PCT thru-hiker exemption” - a PCT thru with a valid “Thru Permit” can ‘camp’ at/near backcountry bear boxes/food storage lockers and utilize them for overnight storage; while ‘hiking’, ‘food’ must be kept “within arm’s reach” at all times… Sleeping with your food is not allowed anywhere in Seki, nor is hanging food allowed in Seki bear canister required areas - but ‘proper’ hanging is allowed outside the canister required areas… Between Guyot Pass and Forester Pass bear canisters are not required - but there are numerous bear boxes available in that stretch; note that there are no backcountry bear boxes N of Woods Creek bridge in Seki…

Obviously, from the mileages given above, Yosemite is the bear canister ‘crux’ for a PCT thru-hiker - one can ‘legally’ get to Reds Meadow by using the bear boxes in canister required areas of Seki, hanging food outside the canister required areas of Seki & Inyo NF, and not ‘camping’ in the Inyo NF canister required areas - but the mileage from Reds to Tuolumne is too far for typical thrus to do in one day, and Tuolumne to Dorothy Lake Pass is too far for any thru to do in one day - so at a minimum, one should plan on having a canister from Reds/Mammoth on through Yosemite to at least Sonora Pass…

Lest someone think from the info above that I’m anti bear canister, I am an advocate of using bear canisters in the Sierra… First & foremost to keep human food from the bears, but also for the ‘freedom’ of hikers being able to stop whenever and wherever they want to ‘camp’ and have the peace of mind that their food is ‘safe’ and won’t be stolen by bears… A bear canister also makes a good camp stool or small table, and a decent man-powered washing machine, too… A PCT thru is in great hiking shape by the time he reaches the Sierra, and after carrying much water weight in portions of SoCal a bear canister by comparison is much lighter (and since water is readily available in the Sierra, very little water weight needs to be carried between sources)… The ‘right’ thing to do, IMHO, is to use a bear canister through the Sierra from Seki until out of Yosemite…

Happy trails!!!

Jim (PITA)

#8

There used to be a map that showed the restricted area described below. It seems the site is no longer operational. Here is a listing of bear boxes. http://www.climber.org/data/BearBoxes/map.html

Here is my reco on food storage. No canister out of Kennedy Meadows since this will likely be the heaviest and largest volume carry of the trip. Also, there is little chance of fitting all your food into any canister unless you are breaking the Sierra section up by going out of Kearsarge. Use bear boxes in restricted area and the PCT method to hang. Ship your canister to your mid-Sierra resupply such a VVR, MTR or Mammouth. Carry canister until Sonora Pass and ship it back at Kennedy Meadows North or Bridgeport.

One final note. If you haven’t learned how to do properly hang using the PCT method, google it and watch a video. The bears aren’t fenced into the restricted area and can be be found even in SoCal. A hiker last year had an Ursack chewed on at the Whitewater Preserve.

gg-man

#9

Thanks for all the (head-spinning) info! This raises a question: Are bears usually found along the PCT in the High Sierra during thru-hiker season? This seems pretty early in terms of the likelihood of them finding natural food sources in the subalpine environment. Or are there problem bears addicted to scraps and the occasional food bag take-away?

It sound like I can get away with mailing the bear can to Reds Meadow. And from a practical, if not necessarily always legal standpoint, stealth camping far away from established campsites (potential bear haunts) should be a safe bet elsewhere.

len

#10

Bears are very common along the PCT in early thru-hiker season. All bears in the High Sierra are used to humans, so they’re all “problem bears” when it comes to food.

I’ve spent a few trips in the High Sierra, including a thru-hike. I’m not much for paying attention to warnings, but i know so many instance of bears/food problems in the Sierra that i just wouldn’t consider anything other than having a canister the whole time in the High Sierra. I’d either carry from Kennedy Meadows again, or i’d plan one night using the bear box at Vidette Meadows, then exit at Kearsarge and get my canister going north from there to Sonora Pass.

It would just be a total pain and very difficult and limiting to be bound to bear boxes and stealth camping all the way up to Red’s Meadow.

markv

#11

I saw a big ole bear between Rae Lakes and the Woods Creek bridge. That was about June 18th and there was almost 100% snow cover. But I saw many more up in NoCal and Oregon so I usually hung my food most nights regardless of where I was.

gg-man

#12

len,

Re: bears during thru-hiking season

In my four years of hiking the PCT through the Sierra I’ve seen one small bear, on the shoulder of Mt. Olancha (prior to the "can"zones). Your observation on a bear’s food sources is right on. The average bear will be at lower elevations where the food is plentiful. The time period of when you enter the Sierra plays a large roll in whether or not you’ll encounter a bear. If you are early season, refrain from sleeping in the lower valleys (I tend to sleep near tree-line or above if the conditions allow)and restrict your cooking to prior to camp, it is unlikely that you’ll see a bear. If you do encounter one, it is likely to be an old/young bruin who is unable to compete with the other bears for territory and are forced to scavenge at high elevation. There are numerous tails of bad bear encounters out there and maybe a few folk on this forum have a tail to tell, but it has been my experience that very few Thru’s actually see a bear in the High Sierra in June, away from the large developed camps, such as Tuolumne.

Jack@ss

#13

Our group hiked the JMT last year starting August 14th and finished September 7th. We were diappointed we didn’t see one bear. Seemed all other hikers we ran into had some kind of bear encounter.

Another threesome Tagless, Tagalong and Mountain man who started three weeks before us also saw no bears.

NedtheFed

Ned

#14

“There are numerous tails of bad bear encounters out there and maybe a few folk on this forum have a tail to tell, but it has been my experience that very few Thru’s actually see a bear in the High Sierra in June, away from the large developed camps, such as Tuolumne.”

My experience is the opposite. It’s not a single tale to tell, but many from many thru-hikers. I know ~200 thru-hikers, and probably half saw a bear away from the large developed camps. Your odds may be pretty good of not having a problem if you stealth, but every time a bear gets human food it gets worse and worse for the bears and the people. A strategy that works 4 times out of 5 is still a bad strategy in this case.

markv