Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trail Camp Question

Following up on a message I read this morning. When leaving gear at trail camp while going for the summit has anyone had problems with marmots or bears ripping into their equipment, even if food and scented items are stored in a bear cannister.

Yes, I did have marmots rip into my back pack stored under my rainfly at trail camp. Since then I either take everything out of the bag and leave all zipper open or hang the bag from the rocks just south of the trail through trail camp.

I was concerned last July when I left my gear at Trail Camp but did not have any problems. All food and scents were in the bear canister or with me. Actually, there was a mint candy in the camp when I arrived and as a test, I left it out on the rock over the 3 days. It was never touched and I packed it out when I left. So either July last year had no animal life or they were busy elsewhere. Years ago, I had heard that marmots were shredding packs for food left inside them.

I will say that I almost goofed. Since the day I arrived, it was very, very windy, I did not erect my tent till late and did not use a fly. The next morning before heading to the summit, I dropped the tent but did not protect it with the rain fly which was still stuffed somewhere. So my sleeping bag and other stuff was just under a layer of ripstop. Fortunately, while it appeared that it was going to rain while I was coming down from the summit, it did not do so till later. I would have had a rather wet bag if it had rained.

So, make sure that everything is secure and set up for any weather. I had to place rocks in the four corners of the tent and two along the sides.

Oh, have a great trip