Im working on planning food for a solo northbound thruhike of the Long Trail in Vermont, late August until the end of September. Leaving in a few days. The southern half of the Long Trail coincides with the AT in Vermont, hence posting here.
As part of my food strategy, which in general is keeping food low-odor and sleeping with my food inside a Loksak Opsak, is it acceptable to have items like beef jerky, tuna in foil packets, salami, cheese, etc? In other words, are they low-odor enough?
So far Ive been avoiding those items (except the cheese, which I will have a lot of). If I dont take them, my protein will come from protein powder, cheese, nuts, whole grains, and freeze-dried beef/chicken in Mountain House meals.
Have you done this exact thing, on the AT in Vermont? (That's the part I'm most concerned about, since it has much heavier foot traffic.) Under what circumstances would you consider it to be safe?
Some context/background info:
Vermont has one of the densest black bear populations in the country, approximately 1 bear every 3 square miles (about 6000 bears in the state). There are no brown bears or grizzlies. Human traffic is relatively high on the southern portion of the Long Trail, which coincides with the AT, and quite low on the northern portion. Hunting is legal. Bear attacks remain rare. Only one person, a hunter whose bullet essentially missed, has ever been killed by a bear in Vermont. However, bears have recently (within the last year) become a problem in the high traffic area near Camels Hump, which now has bear boxes and is on my route. As far as seasonal bear activity, according to VT Fish & Wildlife, By late August, bears seek foods with the highest nutritional value. In an effort to store as much energy as possible, they will eat up to 24 hours a day.
I will be following Andrew Skurkas advice for food protection in bear country. Specifically, Im planning to:
eat dinner on the trail, then hike another 30-60 minutes and set up camp, eat a small snack and go to bed
camp away from established tent sites and shelters
carry low-odor items and foods
carry my food in Loksak Opsak odorproof bags, which sit inside a thinner BaseCamp odor barrier bag in my backpack
(For those who know the full list, Im not sure if Ill be able to consistently burn my trash, start early or finish late, or plan my route to avoid bear food sources.)
Im planning to sleep with my food. No bear hang (except if I choose to stay in a shelter), no bear canister. The food will be inside a Loksak Opsak bag, which is inside the thinner BaseCamp odor barrier bag.