[at-l] Bearikade packing, eh what

[spur at mac.com (Chris Bagby)]

I'm kinda late chiming in on this thread, but just noticed it in the Pipermail archives.

My recollection of using a bear canister comes from a 9-day resupply stretch on the PCT between Lone Pine, CA and Vermillion Valley Ranch, across the meat of the High Sierras. I carried one in my Arcteryx Bora 40 pack (about 2800 cubic inches, expandable to 3300), and Ready carried a separate one in her even smaller Karrimore pack (looks like a large daypack). The canisters were the ubiquitous black plastic ones rented everywhere in towns along the High Sierras.

First off, the canister is just another container for your food. Think of it as a hard-shelled food bag. The canister's walls themselves contribute only a small amount to the volume in your pack. So the overall volume which the canister displaces inside your pack is not a lot greater than your stuffed-full foodbag would displace if you carried no canister. The ULA P2's 4900 cubic inch capacity should have plenty of room inside for a bear canister, probably enough to store it in about the same place you would stick a 5-day foodbag. (Otherwise, you probably have too much in your pack to begin with. A way-heavy pack makes the High Sierras way less fun to travel!)

In our situation, the 9-day haul (longest between resupplies we had on the entire PCT) required too much food between us to fit inside even the two bear canisters. So we had to each carry some food in a stuff sack in addition to the full bear canister. (That meant we had to counterbalance the excess food in a tree at night till we had consumed the excess, unless we camped near a bearbox). 

The canister itself weighed only about 2 lbs. Think 16 Snickers bars, or a quart of water. It didn't add that much weight, so where it rides in your pack is not really that critical of an issue. Since our packs were relatively small, we packed the canisters inside vertically, and stuffed the rest of our gear below it and to either side inside the pack. There was some overflow, so I used the straps on one side of my pack to cinch down my clothes bag and carried it outside till the extra foodbag was empty.

Looking back, we appreciated having the convenience and security of the canisters. OTOH, the majority of other PCT thruhikers didn't bother with carrying them. There seemed to be a lot of confusion about the Park regulations supposedly requiring them. We eventually determined that it was only above treeline, around 9000 feet I think, that they were absolutely required. (That might be because it's hard for anyone to counterbalance their food at night if there are no trees around.) Folks generally camp below treeline anyway. (There were also a number of camping areas equipped with metal bearboxes, so with a little judicious planning, you may be able to minimize the need to carry a canister.)

That being said, the bears are said to be notorious for being able to steal your food even if it's properly counterbalanced (though this didn't happen to us or anyone we knew directly). Luck and possibly karma seem to play a critical role here. The only people whom we heard lost their food to bears were Poly and Ester. They had buried one of the soft Kevlar "bear-resistant" Ursack foodbags under some rocks, and supposedly a bear got to it and shredded it. So much for Kevlar being impervious.

If you want to read more about our High Sierras adventure, my journal for that section starts at:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=18672

Spur
http://www.artofthetrail.com