Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board More Bear Boxes Needed

A couple of friends and myself successfully climbed the mountain this last weekend. I know it was a holiday and there were tons of hikers but the bear box situation at the trailhead was something else!

I slept in my truck to cut the cost of a motel room and had to stow the food in a bear box or risk some unwelcome company in the middle of the night. I was one of the first to put my ice chest in the only one bearbox available at the trailhead where I was parked. At 3:30AM we were up and needed to eat breakfast. When I opened the box my ice chest was buried beneath a ton of stuff that shouldn't have been there.

First of all a huge tupperwear tub so full of every kind of junk food snack they must have bought out a convenience store! Then an empty purse, multiple empty water bottles and cans, an umbrella, styrofoam cups that once held something a bear might like, hiking shoes and a fanny pack! The bear box to the right was for trash, but I guess the owners thought this junk was worth saving. It took me and two other guys 10 minutes to cram all this stuff back in and push on the door so the crank would turn and secure. Maybe they should post signs for the neophytes that the boxes are for food storage and they're not store-alls.

Next time I think I'll spring for a room in LP. At least my food would be safe and accessible and the all night restaurant puts out a pretty good breakfast.

I want to sleep at the portal to help acclimate to the altitude and was worried about the bear box situation. I remember from last year the thing was absolutely stuffed. What if we brought our own Garcia bear canister and stored our food in that? Would it be advisable to leave it outside the vehicle or would it be okay to leave it inside?

I actually considered that other hikers might steal food if they forgot to bring their own for some reason, so I was happy my ice chest was buried under the other "junk", but when it came time to cram all that other-than-food-garbage back in it was like stuffing toothpaste back into the tube. Ate up a lot of valuable time. The trash side was emptier. I may put it in that side next time.

Perhaps you could do without the ice chest (read:beer). For hiking up Whitney, there is nothing you need a chest for, and it takes up a lot of room. Consuming alcohol just prior to a high altitude climb is folly, only exceeded by drinking on the way.

Trying to separate oneself for ONE DAY from our civilization habits seems a reasonable goal.

> Perhaps you could do without the ice chest
> (read:beer).

Or you could keep your (previously cleaned) ice chest that contains only canned or bottled beverages and ice covered up and tucked away in your trunk. If you're worried about bears smelling through metal cans and sealed bottles submerged in ice water, then you'd better go and have the entire inside of your car steam cleaned prior to parking it at the Portal.

> Consuming alcohol just prior to a high
> altitude climb is folly, only exceeded by
> drinking on the way.

Speak for yourself. I regularly consume beer before, during, and after trips into the mountains. I have no problems with it and consider it one of the essentials of backcountry travel.

> Trying to separate oneself for ONE DAY from our
> civilization habits seems a reasonable goal.

Civilization habits: clothing; laws; extending courtesy to strangers; cooked food; shelter; maps; various forms of technology; etc.

Seperating myself from all of these seems quite unreasonable to me!

Some of us climb Whitney as part of a longer trip. My cooler held open cheese, some chocolate, pastries and bread on the rest of my voyage. I did dry it before the Whitney trip so that it would not mold/mildew but it may have held food smells and was not going in my Outback which does not have a trunk. But I did also stuff it with my other foods so that it was packed before going into the bear box.

But I do not habor any problems if others want their beer. I do think that they should be posted for food or permanent food containers.

Re: bear canister - no, it should not be left in the car since they are not air tight and would emit odors if there are odors to be emitted. Leave it outside your car.

I was there mid-july and while the boxes were crowded, I did find room for my stuff by stacking my stuff and others.

Whomever - have a great climb

I would not have gone to the trouble of stuffing empty purses and hiking boots back into a bear box, and here's a second endorsement of a cold beer (or glass of wine) in the mountains.

I would agree that more boxes at the trailhead would be nice. It seems that space for them is not a problem. By the way, how often are they checked for unwanted items?

We had to do some cleaning also, in order to fit some of our food...seems like some people like to use the bear boxes at trailhead to store garbage.

Please be courteous enough to leave some room for others, the trash bins are not far from the bear boxes, they are just behind the bathrooms.

Fred, one time in San Gorgonio, I had a bear pick up my bear canister and toss it about 50 yards away so I'm worried about leaving a bear can outside the vehicle. Anyone got any ideas on how to secure it? TIA!

If the bears start carrrying quarters to open the locks we will be in serious trouble. Most suggests I've read are that they should be UNsecured to that the bear cannot gain any leverage. But they should be away from water or cliff edges and if possible in a low spot to prevent rolling.

Again, if they have now learned to toss/throw them to crack them, we might have problems. But most are not odor proof and should not be stored in vehicles with food inside.

Good luck.

seriously, the issue that was raised was that inappropriate things (read:garbage) was being left in the bear boxes.

Note the title of the thread: More Bear Boxes Needed.

So what it comes down to is that we, the public, cannot use the facilities responsibly, and so, the forest service has to spend precious dollars to put in more (unneeded) boxes.

Come on, people, throw the trash out!

Well, more boxes is the only solution I can think of other than posting signs on the doors what and what not should go in the boxes. But unfortunately in my few decades on the planet it has come to my attention that signs are posted only to be ignored. It's just become sad human behavior. Don't think so? Go through the parking lots and look at all the broken glass because people ignored the bear/food in car signs. It was just aggravating that food boxes were being used as trash and storage receptacles.

Fred, I don't think the bear tossed the can to try to break it open. I think he tossed it because he knew he wasn't gonna get the food and he was pissed. In the moonlight, I think I saw the twinkle of a quarter in his paw but I guess he hadn't learned how to use it yet! As far as more bear boxes, which I'm reminded is the proper subject of this thread, if I see any empty purses or hiking boots in there I will take them out and leave them to the side, and if I see a nearby trashcan I will deposit them there in order to avoid a ticket for littering. See you all on the mountain!

A group of us was at the portal a couple of weeks ago on a Mt. Russell hike and noticed the amoung of garbage that was stuffed into one of the bear boxes. There are plenty of trash receptacles in the area if people would just use them.

So maybe the solution is that we enlightened people, when we find the problem, fix it, by moving the junk out of the box, and into the trash. It is always so easy to feel that it is "someone else's" job, but if we all take a little responsibility, it adds up fast.