[at-l] Bear Phobia

[m_factor@hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

Bears are not usually a problem at/above treeline in the Whites.  The 
"official" campsites in the Whites that have problems usually have bear 
barrels or cables to hang your food.  Other than that, if I'm stealth 
camping near tall trees, I hang my food.  At or above treeline, I would just 
bring the food in the tent with me.

Along the AT further south, the open fields and balds were usually bordered 
by forest and we just hung our food there.  Also, chances are that if the 
bald is too big to hang your food at the edge, then bears probably aren't 
going to be a problem there, either.

The only place I encountered problems on the AT was in the 100 mile 
wilderness.  The mice just laughed at us there.  I've even got a picture of 
a mouse on my food bag that found it's way there less than 5 minutes after I 
hung my bag.  I slept with my food that night.

The locals there were also complaining about it being a really bad mouse 
year so I don't think what we saw was normal.  The mice got into people's 
tents and kept people up all night.  One night, a friend of mine just gave 
up her tent to the mice and slept outside.  We had hung our food that night. 
  I have to wonder if there were a lot of fox - or other mouse eating 
creatures - last year.

For the PCT, there are places where bear approved containers are required 
(see recent thread about the Ursack Ultra failure).  In other areas, it's 
just good practice to use stealth camping methods.  Stop some time before 
you get to camp to eat your evening meal - or do all your cooking well away 
from you camp - and downwind, too.  Camp where others don't camp.  Some 
people then keep their food with them knowing that bears are not habituated 
to people and their food at those places.

Mara
Stitches, GAME99

>From: Robert Rubin <rrubin@atconf.org>
>Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 10:31:40 -0400
>
>...
>What do other folks do in terms of critter-proofing when camping near or
>above treeline, or in open meadows and balds?
>
>...
>PCT hikers must deal with this all the time. What are the best techniques?
>
>Robert
>
>At 10:22 AM -0400 7/12/01, Mara Factor wrote:
> >If you're hiking in the eastern US where appropriate trees are plentiful
> >enough, you do not need the bear canister.  Just be sure you hang your 
>food
> >at least 10' off the ground, 6' down from the branch, and 6' away from 
>the
> >trunk of the tree.  Even trickier but a good idea if possible, is to find 
>a
> >branch that will support the weight of your food but not the additional
> >weight of the bear.  :-)
> >
> >If you're in an area with known bear problems, you might want to
> >counterbalance your food rather than more conveniently tying off the bear
> >bag line to a nearby tree.  Just be sure you can get it down 
>afterwards...
> >:-)
> >
> >Mara
> >Stitches, GAME99
> >
> >>From: "Elliott, Patrick S" <Patrick.Elliott@allina.com>
> >>Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 08:40:19 -0500
> >>
> >>...If
> >>I hang my food properly, do I need the canister
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