I spoke with a ranger in Mammoth a few days ago who informed me of a new decision that had been made earlier that day. Going forward, all backcountry hikers throughout the Sierra will have to carry one bear canister per person, regardless of the length of your trip. They’re having an unusually high number of bear incidents this year, presumaby because the drought diminished the usual supply of berries and human food is more abundant. One bear destroyed a tent at Thousand Island Lake, and two aggressive bears have already been killed in the Mammoth area this year. So sad!
Apparently, there was a meeting there Thursday with people from the US Forest Service, Dept of Interior, and a whole bunch of local folks, and they decided this would be the only way to save the bears. I was simply calling to ensure it’s still possible to rent an extra canister at that particular office, and the ranger told me that the final decision had been made a few hours before.
It’s really a shame that it has come to this, both for us and the bears! Something tells me that BearVault is going to be selling a lot of their smaller canisters as a result of this decision. Just sharing the news so no one is caught by surprise on a future trip…
Lisa