Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Carry a Bear Canister?

Make sure you get an approved canister!!!

Here are the food storage requirements for Inyo National Forest::
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/wild/foodstorage.html

Here are the bear regulations for Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park:
http://www.nps.gov/seki/snrm/wildlife/bear_overview.htm

And here is a list of "Approved Food Storage Containers" from SierraWildBear.gov:
http://www.sierrawildbear.gov/foodstorage/approvedcontainers.htm

You don't have to carry the canister as long as someone else does. My friend carried the canister up to trail camp while I carried the a lot of the water, the stove and fuel.

You don't need one per person if you are only going to be in the zone for a couple of days. Share the carrying.

Enjoy your trip!
Will

Also, just a word of advice, if it starts to rain when you are up there make sure to turn the bear canisters upside down. They tend to leak if you leave the lid side facing up and the rain will get all of your food wet.

Too many of you are ready to harp on RULES AND REGULATIONS. I'm all for being eco friendly and preserving the beauty and wonder of the mountain but please lighten up a bit. Life might not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. summiting aug 5th, God speed!@

No offense, but I didn't see anyone "harping" about rules and regulations. What I did see was some friendly advice pointing out that the rules and regulations ARE being enforced. And they are.

A few weeks ago I watched a ranger write some guy a ticket for leaving a bunch of stuff sitting on a rock at Trail Camp half the day while he went and summitted. The ranger waited for him and when he returned, wrote him up. As I recall, someone asked about it and she said the ticket was for $350. Ouch.

Anyway, I'd hate to see a bear have to be killed just because someone thought it was just too much trouble to use a bear can, and the bear gets habitualized to getting food from humans. (Paige, I do understand that it isn't just a matter of being "too much trouble" in your case.)

Worse, if you talk to a ranger or read what they've got posted on the subject on the Forest Service web site, they say that if bears can't get to hung food any other way, they've sometimes resorted to "banzi" diving from the tree, trying to snag the food bag on the way down. Imagine a 300, 400lb, or more bear falling 15 feet or so onto a hard surface. Pretty sad to see a bear get crippled (and probably have to be killed) just because someone didn't want to lug that extra 3 lbs.

Not trying to harp either; just pointing out that (sometimes) rules exist for a reason.

Amen ClamberAbout!
'Nuff Said,
...tg...

Bear cans do weigh a few pounds. But if you are trying to cut some weight, no one ever said it all has to come from your gear. Lose a few pounds off of your fat ass and you could afford to carry one. Of course this thread is just for those carrying more than their share.(for the record, it's humor-not aggression).

Cmore what a bitter creep you are! I can't think of too many more necessary and thankless jobs than forest ranger and you slam them! I've been to trail camp, seen them with plastic gloves to the shoulder cleaning the solar toilets. I've been to Trail Camp before there were toilets and you smelled the place long before you got there. Are you one of those people with a job beneath theirs and you have to trash them to feel *good* about yourself? The whole mountain would be a trash-covered zoo if they weren't there enforcing the rules. As it is now you hardly ever see rangers checking permits. They aren't being paid enough for what they do. Oh and if you should get injured I hope they don't try calling emergency numbers on your *fake ID.*

cmore !
Considering your condescending tone, I'm just curious as to YOUR education level ? Must be a real winner ! Oh, and as to you just calling in for an air search and rescue with medical supplies to assist you? All I can say is Yeah, right!

Well, this seems fairly clear-cut.

I am certainly a believer in the educational process.

I am pro-bear. While I am not a animal nut, this is a fairly clear situation, in which we hikers are the exclusive culprit.

We seem to have people who think it is funny to try to disregard federal rules that virtually any fair minded person would agree is a practical solution for the benefit of bears. Further, they seem to think it is funny to threaten violent attacks upon federal employees, who *generally* deserve our support.

So, obviously, $300 is not enough. How about $1000? How about confiscating all of a person's gear used to commit the breach of rules? How about confiscating the car used to help accomplish this violation. You just have to up the ante until it becomes easier to just follow the rules.

And, the nice thing is, we will know EXACTLY who to blame for this sort of thing being done.

Have a nice bear-can day!

cmore is missing a rather obvious point. Whether they are lazy, stupid incompetent, etc. or not, the rangers do not make the rules requiring you to carry a bear cannister. The rules come from higher up the chain of command.

Trail Camp may be overkill, but there certainly are many places that should require cannisters. But if you don't like the rules, don't complain about the people who have to enforce them, complain to the people who make them.

BTW, I have generally been favorably impressed with the rangers I've encountered over the years. I don't know what crawled up cmore's a** and died, but I would not be surprised to find out that his problem is more internal than ranger-related.

I was talking to Doug Senior last weekend before and after our summit trip and someone came in and asked about the bears. The bear issue is serious and a few bears have had to be killed because they had grown too accustomed to food. Normally bears are not found above treeline and that would rule out bears at Trail Camp. Unfortunately bears have learned to follow the trail to Trail Camp and there have been problems. The first bear showed up several years ago. Even if the bears were not an issue, the presence of Marmots justifies the use of a canister. The furry rodents have been known to chew through packs and tents to get at dehydrated and freeze dried food. I know from first hand experience when I left a pack alone while I was fishing. I came back and found that a marmot had eaten through to my food. The episode cost a couple of days off a multi-day trip. Also, the little pests are very tame at trail camp and I saw one scamper off with a cracker from a bag someone had left just a couple feet from where they were sitting. I imagine that it would take only a minute or two for one to find your food.

If weight is an issue the Bearikade can is the best way to go. I've seen them and believe they are superior to the older style cans.

On a final note to all of this. Just because you, I, or some other individual hasn't seen a bear or some other creature in a certain vicinity does NOT AT ALL prove it doesn't exist. Furthermore, keep in mind that the rules (as has already been so eloquenty stated)are in place for EVERYONES as well as the animal's protection. You know, I have never seen a million dollars in one lump sum in my 42 years, but I'm not going to be an ignoramus and argue it doesn't exist. I will strive to do better and learn from those who have and try to pay attention to others who have walked before me.

We all need to do our part in keeping Bears from coming to trail camp. A few years ago they had kill the bear down at the portal that was too used to Human food. That is a shame.

Hey Current7....your hike must be coming up soon....I hear the mountain calling you....Come get me....Come get me.

Considering all the b.s. that's involved in arranging to climb Whitney, more rules than a 19th century ladies seminary, the $15 fee for reservations, the high fines for violating the regulations etc., how much trouble would it be for the USFS put in an adequate quantity of bear boxes at the commonly used campsites on the way up. Or is it that they are on a sort of authority trip and looking for opportunities to cite people. After all they effectively set the limits on the number of people camping at these sites. If they can put porta-potties there, what's the problem with bear boxes? NPS doesn't have any problem with them on the other side of the mountain. On the whole I think the requirement for bear cannisters is a good thing, but for the trail route up Whitney, they could do better by us.

Mike

Hey I agree there are already way to many intrusions on the mountain. They need to remove the toilets and all other man made items on that mountain. Some of you are *****ing about the government but you want bear boxes and toilets and other luxuries. If I had it my way the limited forest service budget would not be spent on *hit removal and everyone would have to be self sufficient and *hit in a baggie like they've been doing on Shasta for years. 25 years ago I slept on top of half dome (it was legal then) but we had to crap in baggies. It was a ***** but it made sense then as it does even more now with higher demand on OUR resources. I am always happy to see a ranger and wish there could be more. They have a thankless job with low pay and have to get people to follow obvious rules. I am always saddened on every trip I take in the wilderness seeing people ruin sacred places for me and future generations because they can't follow simple rules. Things like camping in illegal campsites, improper food storage, not practicing no trace camping, washing in streams and lakes...It's pathetic. We have a huge impact when we don't follow rules in this fragile environment. It is a great privelege we have. I almost am dreading my first trip to this area because of the crowds but it is still a special place. The average Joe Backpacker gets it because it is a part of their life. It's more than just a peak - it's a spiritual magical experience. OK so I really get off on the Sierra but I can tell you firsthand that I have seen some seriously degraded places make a drastic turn around in 20 years because of government intrusion.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings."
John Muir

Thought I'd pipe up and second the motion to place bear boxes at Outpost and Trail camps.

Although, I'm sure the rangers rightly fear that they will be turned into dumpsters.

The only reason there is a forest service, and the only reason that they make regulations is because too many people are incapable of regulating theirown behavior while on public land.

They've had as many as 800 people on the Mt Whitney Trail in a single day. Does that sound like a good time to any of you? On other trails in the eastern Sierra the quotas are generally around 12-20 people per day. On Whitney they allow 175. I think that the FS is being GRACIOUS by limiting Whitney access as little as they do. In an environment like on Mt Whitney, don't you think that perhaps maybe, just maybe, a higher degree of regulation might be appropriate? Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, we all might have to behave a little differently and make a few sacrifices to go hiking in an environment like that?

I did some research and found out that this summer bears have stolen counter balanced food in the Rock Creek are (Sequoia-Kings Cn NP), and in Cottonwood Lakes Basin (John Muir Wilderness). In 2000 (?), bears stole food at Trail Camp almost every night for about three weeks. Hundreds of Whitney climbers were affected.

The toilets, the 175 people allowed per day and certainly the addition of bear boxes, all totally exceed the limits placed upon developement and human impact in the John Muir Wilderness by CONGRESS and the PRESIDENT in the Wilderness Act of 1964.

I suppose that if 800 people all want to crap in Mirror Lake, that should be allowed too. There are countries where stuff like that happens. I am not eager to see this become one of them.

If it were up to me I'd increase the permit fee ten times above the current $15 level if only to reduce the impact of too many hikers on a fragile ecosystem. Adding bear boxes, building more toilets, and the like only decreases the wilderness experience. I think quite a few people climb Whitney because of some quirk of ego and not to enjoy the experience. Mount Whitney is not some unique bit of exercise equipment to be taken for granted. It is a remarkable bit of wilderness that is in tolerably good condition despite the amount of abuse it gets. I may be in the minority, but I'd welcome steeper permit fees, reduced trail quotas, and any other steps that may lessen the impact on the area. While my viewpoint may not have sat well with some like John Muir who praised nature's restorative powers on the soul, I firmly believe that he would now view careless hikers as modern locusts destroying what little wilderness is left and surely he would opt for some means of minimizing the damage.

This thread was originally about the use of bear canisters and I will make this point once more. We must strive to minimize our impact when travelling in the wild and in places known to have bears this means that you must carry a bear cannister. It is good for you (protecting your food) and good for nature (protecting the bears).

I will wade into this one, I think bear canisters are a over kill.
If the morons cant keep their food in the proper place at the portal then they deserve to have their cars ripped into.
Above the portal you should be on your own, it is after all a wilderness area. Hang your food like backpackers have done since the west was explored.
toliets should be at the bottom and not above the portal. yeah Yeah I understand the problems with human waste , however it would keep the disneyland crowd from the hike.
Cables? get rid of em. cant hack it? stay home.