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  1. #1
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    Default Bear Canisters? Really?

    The ATC strongly recommends using a bear-resistant canister between Springer Mountain and


    Damascus, Va., Is this for real? I recall around Bear Mt or Woods Hole but all the way to Damascus. Overly cautious? I have one from the PCT High Sierras but I don't want to carry that monster.
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    They are apparently trying to cover their butts in case anything might happen. It's overly litigious.

  3. #3

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    It might be a good idea to use a canister down there for now. Between the fires and the drought, food is probably getting scarcer then usual and add in all the extra people hiking down there, bound to have more problems. Weren't there already a lot more bear incidents then usual last year?
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    Quote Originally Posted by bamboo bob View Post
    The ATC strongly recommends using a bear-resistant canister between Springer Mountain and


    Damascus, Va., Is this for real? I recall around Bear Mt or Woods Hole but all the way to Damascus. Overly cautious? I have one from the PCT High Sierras but I don't want to carry that monster.
    Is this part of the area that got burned or near enough that nearby bears may be encroaching and more aggressive next spring due to the burnt food sources.
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    The ATC has had this recommendation out all this year, nothing new.

    Im guessing they are being proactive with they skyrocketing # of hikers in spring. More people means more encounters.
    At some point it may become required if that happens.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by bamboo bob View Post
    The ATC strongly recommends using a bear-resistant canister between Springer Mountain and


    Damascus, Va., Is this for real? I recall around Bear Mt or Woods Hole but all the way to Damascus. Overly cautious? I have one from the PCT High Sierras but I don't want to carry that monster.
    The ATC has the burden of providing one-size-fits-all advice to an increasingly large and inexperienced throng of hikers that uses the A.T. many of whom often use abysmally bad bear bagging techniques or are unaware of food storage practices to begin with.


    I don't agree that the recommendation is necessary, but I don't fault them for making it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by PennyPincher View Post
    Is this part of the area that got burned or near enough that nearby bears may be encroaching and more aggressive next spring due to the burnt food sources.
    They put out the recommendation months prior to the fires. I believe it was simply in response to the increasing popularity of the trail and the relative inexperience of many of it's users.
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  8. #8
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    FWIW I saw 0 bears on my PCT thru hike and have seen 7 in just the 500 miles of the AT I have done.

    Anecdotal, sure, but if anywhere were to require bear canisters the AT makes as much sense as anywhere.

  9. #9

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    Its a recommendation not a rule. Not everyone is well schooled in this, or other general recommendations the ATC makes that are designed to inform and advise novice hikers.

  10. #10
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    While the extra weight and space required by a bear canister is a hassle, I must admit that I otherwise liked using a bear canister during my JMT thru. You never had to take any time to hang the canister, and your food was safe from critters large and small. Bear canisters are currently required along large sections of the JMT and all of Yosemite because of the density of people and bears. If the popularity of the AT continues to increase, I could see the same thing happening here.

    Of course I have to admit that I was hiking with a Bearikad. I loved how easy they are to open (if you have a coin).

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by HooKooDooKu View Post
    While the extra weight and space required by a bear canister is a hassle, I must admit that I otherwise liked using a bear canister during my JMT thru. You never had to take any time to hang the canister, and your food was safe from critters large and small. ...

    Of course I have to admit that I was hiking with a Bearikad. I loved how easy they are to open (if you have a coin).
    Yeah, really, they also make a great little camp seat. 2 pounds, a lot, but not the end of the world. We're about ready to pull the trigger on a berikade.... waiting though to see if URsacks become legal in the sierra.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    They are apparently trying to cover their butts in case anything might happen. It's overly litigious. What's next? Must we all carry SPOT devices? GPS's? Shouldn't the trail be paved? Fly a personal drone ahead of you to scope out the trail? Put limits on daily mileage? Everyone needs to tinkle wearing bear bells?
    Canisters are being required more and more in the West.

    Bears that become habitual food thieves are usually caught and euthanized. Not a good deal for the bear, so suck it up, what's 3 more #'s.

  13. #13

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    On one hand I don't want to see bears killed because of my poor habits. On the other hand, I used a hang bag and didn't feed any bears.

    The most common bear feeding activity I saw were 1) hikers cooking at shelters... sloppily spilling food with no attempt to clean it up. 2.) Dumping leftovers, unliked food 50 feet from a shelter. 3.) Unattended "trail magic" food left at shelters and near roads. 4.) lazy bear bag hangs.

    I saw a bunch of bears, mostly doing bear things. But in the Smokies they were some hanging around the shelters, waiting for the hikers to leave, because they knew there'd be bits of food left around. A canister won't solve three of the four problems I noticed.

    I do rather like the idea of using one for a stool, might save my knees for the actual trail.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hosh View Post
    Canisters are being required more and more in the West.

    Bears that become habitual food thieves are usually caught and euthanized. Not a good deal for the bear, so suck it up, what's 3 more #'s.
    My trips usually include around 45 lbs of food which would require around 3 bear canisters. Or maybe four. What's another 12 lbs of plastic to an already heavy pack?

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    They are apparently trying to cover their butts in case anything might happen. It's overly litigious.
    Really? You think people are suing the ATC for losing food to bears? C'mon man. Far more likely they're just trying to protect people's vacations and bears' lives.
    Last edited by Alligator; 12-22-2016 at 18:05. Reason: Quoted post edited.

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Deadeye View Post
    Really? You think people are suing the ATC for losing food to bears? C'mon man. Far more likely they're just trying to protect people's vacations and bears' lives.
    They're trying to control the "wilderness" experience. Bear attacks whether involving food or not are accidents which go with wilderness travel. Lightning also kills or injures backpackers on the AT---so should we be required to leave the trail and seek indoor shelter during every thunderstorm? Death by bear attack comes with wilderness travel, it's part of the landscape. Like lyme disease and giardia.

    Plus, even if you carry a canister with all your food, you're still inside your tent with a stomach bag full of food---easily smelled by any bear. How do you hang your stomach or put it into a canister??

    The best way to protect bears is to stop bear hunting with dogs and to not routinely slaughter bears who disturb or molest hikers.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Puddlefish View Post
    I saw a bunch of bears, mostly doing bear things. But in the Smokies they were some hanging around the shelters, waiting for the hikers to leave, because they knew there'd be bits of food left around.
    The only reason bear canisters (so far) are not required in GSMNP is because you can only camp at designated locations, and each of those locations have those bear cables to make it simple for people to properly hang their food.

    One day, I started a hike before sunrise. I reached an AT shelter to sit down and rest about the same time shelter occupants from that night were finishing up there packing for the morning. As I sat there quietly, it wasn't more than 1 minute after they left that a bear came around the corner to see what left-overs he could find.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    The best way to protect bears is to stop bear hunting with dogs and to not routinely slaughter bears who disturb or molest hikers.
    Let a few bears develop a taste for tasty hiker meat, and we might solve the overcrowding issue as well.

    The reason we have so few bear problems, is when one figures out we are edible and it can overpower us,...we kill it.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by bamboo bob View Post
    The ATC strongly recommends using a bear-resistant canister between Springer Mountain and


    Damascus, Va., Is this for real? I recall around Bear Mt or Woods Hole but all the way to Damascus. Overly cautious? I have one from the PCT High Sierras but I don't want to carry that monster.
    if it's not a law, do it or don't. there is a short section (7mi or so) in GA that one was required but that was only if you were camping there. walking through you were fine.

    anyway, what's the problem? it's a recommendation, would you rather they didn't say anything?..

  20. #20
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    In 2014/15 in my area NOBO mile 700+/- we had a very poor wild nut crop. I never did really find out why, just that we did. There was a lot more bear/human interaction in the early spring due to this. Remember the video of the 4 or 5 bears at Lambert's Meadow shelter (or was it Campbell?). Those bears were hungry and that was from a poor crop of one of their food sources. What happens when there is no food!

    It’s not all dome & gloom.

    Many times after fires like this grass is one of the first things to come back. The bears will eat that if that is the only thing around. Berries, flowers and Nut trees will be slower to come along, as there will be nearly no pollinators in the worst hit areas.

    My neighbor was a national forest ranger for 30 some odd years, thinks starting very soon the bears that would have found something to forage on, will be coming to town. I would expect bear/human interaction in the worst of the burn areas to be way up.
    Right now I don’t have any plans to hike in those areas, but if I were to go done there before the berry crop was in full swing, I would probably use a canister.


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