Re: [pct-l] bear canisters + bear story.

[reynolds@ilan.com]

re: Many thruhikers will do without [bear canisters]

I agree. Many thruhikers will not take a bear canister. What this means to me is
they only care about "their hike."  They do not care about other hikers, bears,
the wilderness or anything else but what "they, themselves, are doing." Now
thruhikers will argue that, after spending all winter getting their pack weight
down it is "athama" to carry an extra 2 pounds 3 ounces. They will also tell you
how much they have "sacraficed" to make this hike. All true but so what?
Training bears to predate [kill and eat] humans risks my family's health and
the bear's life [ultimately to the elimination of all bears].

The "bear section" of the Sierra is less than 400 miles long out of 2600 miles.
If I can walk off my city job and carry a canister for two weeks, then any
thruhiker that has logged 700 miles from Campo can do the same!

I woul like to say that there are bear boxs all through the Sierra. In my less
than humble opinion there ought to be. Ten years ago it was obvious that
counterblancing wouldn't work but the NPS and USFS simply ignored the evidence.
Now you simply can't get from Kennedy Meadows to Highway 108 without "risk".

If you do not take a bear canister from Kennedy Meadows [north] you will be "at
risk" until you reach Crabtree Meadows [Mt. Whitney]. This section, however,
does not have really agresive bears so counterbalancing [bear bagging] will
probably work although you may have to spend a sleepless night chasing a bear
away.

North of Crabtree Meadow there are numerous bear boxs until Woods Creek bridge.
This is prime bear territory and counterbalancing or guarding your food with
your body is both illegial [in some parts] and dangerous [for both you and the
bears]. The solution is to stop where a bear box is instead of making those
extra miles. Camping at a pass won't work anymore. Bears cross passes these
days.

Past Woods Creek you will be "at risk" again but again, this area is not, yet
prime bear territory. I don't know why this is so but I understand that this
stretch [Woods Creek to Palisades Lake] is not hiked as much as other John Muir
Trail stretches. Counterbalancing [bear bagging] will probably work although you
may have to spend a sleepless night chasing a bear away.

However, once you drop down the "Golden Staircase" to LeCont Canyon you will
face serious bear problems and no bear canisters [the last time I was through
{'97}]. This situation lasts all the way to Highway 108 north of Yosemite.

Just because the NPS/USFS have been idiotic about keeping food from bears
doesn't give a thruhiker the right to be equally idiotic. As I have said before
[and have said for 10 years], "bear bagging" and "guarding your food" is like
"passing on a curve". It works most of the time but when it does not the results
are disastrous for both you and the poor schlump comming the other way.


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