[pct-l] lightweight pack and bears

[Dude Spellings <dude1@pdq.net>]

> Ray Jardine did not carry a bear canister. Things were different then.
  I thought the reason Ray jardine did not carry a bear cannister
was because he was/is confident in the stealth camping technique he describes
in his book: camping away from the trail in a spot that is not frequented
by other campers, cooking your food away from camp, no campfire, etc. 
He did his last thru-hike before revising his book in 1994.  Surely
things have not changed that much in 4 years.  Okay, there are now
laws about using safe food storage methods(hanging or cannisters are the
only "safe" methods recognized by the law), but the actual bear conditions
really haven't changed that much...cars were being broken into by bears
in Yosemite the year that the park opened(according to Dateline NBC last
Wednesday).
    Also, if you carried two nylon stuff sacks and 75'
of nylon cord, you could still officially store your food safely without
adding the extra bulk and weight.  The only problem I had hanging
food on my recent TYT hike was finding that magical tree that is in all
the diagrams.  None the less, we saw no bears.

Dude in TX * From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists * ==============================================================================