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  1. #1
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    "
    The measure runs until June and involves a five mile section of trail between Jarrard and Neels Gaps.
    "

  3. #3
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    so if you stay at woods hole or blood mtn. they expect you to buy an $80 canister. i'll just sleep with my chow as usual

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    Is it impractical to just walk through this area and camp on either side?
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  5. #5
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    I'm getting ready for all the "How do I carry a bear container in my pack?" threads.

    Or even better....... "How long does cheese stay fresh in a bear container?"

  6. #6
    Registered User swjohnsey's Avatar
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    No. . . . . . .

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feral Bill View Post
    Is it impractical to just walk through this area and camp on either side?
    no............

  8. #8
    Hike On!!!!! Many Moons's Avatar
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    Default Sounds like the best way

    Is this a safe way of keeping the bears/mice away? I plan on tenting and keeping pack in tent seems like it would be easier than hanging food bag. Will mice chew through tent wall to get in if you are far enough away from shelters? Any bear I ever saw was scared of me, but guess it is different when you don't have a gun and they are used to people.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    so if you stay at woods hole or blood mtn. they expect you to buy an $80 canister. i'll just sleep with my chow as usual

  9. #9
    Registered User scope's Avatar
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    Mark my words, the bear is going to be between Levelland and Cowrock next time, same thing will happen and that section will close to camping for a while and/or they will extend this bear container provision to that section of trail. Would not surprise me if they decide as a precaution to start including additional sections going forward.
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

  10. #10
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    Hungry bears can walk 5 miles up the Trail. Instead of fixing the problem, this only relocates it. How large of a range does a black bear have anyway?

    To the Internets!!!

    http://www.americanbear.org/Habitat%...me%20Range.htm

    Male 8 - 60 square miles
    Female 1 - 15 square miles
    2012 NOBO - April start date
    Follow me here: Here, There, and Everywhere

  11. #11
    Registered User Pixelgator's Avatar
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    Yep. You know they are going to expand this requirement. First it was campfires and now...
    Anyone ever heard of a bear vs. man encounter here? I guess you can ship your canister home ( or out west ) from Mountain Crossings.

  12. #12
    Nalgene Ninja flemdawg1's Avatar
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    Not surprising after the notorious Blood Mtn Bear has been stealing food for the last 3-5 yrs and all measures taken to remove or limit hikers has proven uneffective.

  13. #13
    Nalgene Ninja flemdawg1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pixelgator View Post
    Yep. You know they are going to expand this requirement. First it was campfires and now...
    Anyone ever heard of a bear vs. man encounter here? I guess you can ship your canister home ( or out west ) from Mountain Crossings.
    Yes there have have alot of encounters esp. at the Blood Mtn Shelter. Last year the bear was even entering the shelter for the hiker's food.

  14. #14

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    If they're smart, the hostels near the start will start renting them out. Pick one up when you get dropped off at the park or 42, and return it to Neel's Gap to get your deposit back.

  15. #15
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    the smarter thing to do would be to close the shelters trail in that area to camping. so many hikers will be starting soon and not know about this canister rule. no way can it be enforced

  16. #16
    Registered User moof53's Avatar
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    I live out here in California and have had to hike with bear canisters for several years. I have a BearVault 450 and a BearVault 500. Which one I use for a trip depends on how long I am out.

    The BV450 is the smaller version of the BearVault canister system and I guess it will hold about 4 days of food (repackaged and stuffed) and personal items (toothpaste, soap, Neosporin, etc). Anything with a scent is supposed to go into the container. The container is then placed on the ground about 100 feet downwind of your camp. They are definitely a pain in the butt to carry because they just don't fit well in packs. I have tried vertically, horizontally and tied to the outside, all present problems. And, if you are out on a long hike, the canisters themselves add weight which will cause the real ultra light hikers a real headache. The best thing about them is they make a wonderful seat.

    But, if you use it correctly, mama, papa or baby bear will not get to your stuff. And, it won't be crushed. They do work and in that respect they are good for the bears. In case you are wondering, I have never had a canister attacked by a bear. But there are some very funny youtube videos of bears trying to get into them.

    Planning a 2013 AT thru hike and was planning on using my Ursak bear resistant kevlar bag. Looks like I might have to think again.

  17. #17

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    I saw this coming, but I thought there'd be a little heads-up/warning. I wonder if the bears will just move up/down the trail to find more "low-hanging" fruit. Or I'm wondering what it would take for a bear to get the nerve up to blatantly take a pack or bear canister or anything else they smell food on. They're losing fear of us in that area. Like people, once they get a few free handouts they don't like it when it's taken away from them, but I'm just not sure how engrained it is in that population.

  18. #18
    Registered User ah-go's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moof53 View Post
    I live out here in California and have had to hike with bear canisters for several years. I have a BearVault 450 and a BearVault 500. Which one I use for a trip depends on how long I am out.

    The BV450 is the smaller version of the BearVault canister system and I guess it will hold about 4 days of food (repackaged and stuffed) and personal items (toothpaste, soap, Neosporin, etc). Anything with a scent is supposed to go into the container. The container is then placed on the ground about 100 feet downwind of your camp. They are definitely a pain in the butt to carry because they just don't fit well in packs. I have tried vertically, horizontally and tied to the outside, all present problems. And, if you are out on a long hike, the canisters themselves add weight which will cause the real ultra light hikers a real headache. The best thing about them is they make a wonderful seat.

    But, if you use it correctly, mama, papa or baby bear will not get to your stuff. And, it won't be crushed. They do work and in that respect they are good for the bears. In case you are wondering, I have never had a canister attacked by a bear. But there are some very funny youtube videos of bears trying to get into them.

    Planning a 2013 AT thru hike and was planning on using my Ursak bear resistant kevlar bag. Looks like I might have to think again.
    Reading the article, it says "bear bagging" or "hanging between two trees" is not acceptable ... but it didn't seem to prohibit Ursack. If you using the odor proof bags inside the Ursack, it sure seems to meet the definition laid out in the article. (I couldn't find a more detailed article on the linked Forest Service website).

  19. #19
    Hiker Trash Downhill Trucker's Avatar
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    5 miles? Wouldn't it be logical to just blow through and not camp in that area?

  20. #20

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    Am I misreading "bear resistant containers" to include Ursacks as acceptable? Nothing in the given article seems to exclude them.

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