Stashing a bear canister?

[Andy]

I am planning a multiday hike with my partner from Tuolumne Meadows, passing by Tenaya Lake miday through the walk. The idea of stashing some supplies in bear canister near Tioga Road has crossed my mind. Is this feasible, or would it be foolish and irresponsible?

I am trending towards viewing it as foolish and irresponsible, and probably contrary to Leave No Trace ethics, even if only for a few days. But not being familar with walking in bear country, and unable to shake the idea, my main question is would the canister remain intact and in place?

Thanks for any advice.

Andy

[sierranomad]

Properly hidden, and being in a bear canister, I can't see any reason for complaint. But, what I do wonder is how you would now manage with two bear canisters? Or are you planning on leaving an empty one there and picking it up again later?

That too, I would think, would be OK. You wouldn't be leaving any garbage, defacing anything, and the food would be properly stored.

[bill-e-g]

If you go by the book you cannot stash anything in the wilderness.
A bear isn't really gonna piss with it though if you did.
I'd worry more about some other person stumbling on it and taking it.
Why don't you just put some food in the bear lockers at Sunrise TH instead?
In the summer the park service probably frowns upon both ideas
but I would go with the bear locker. You're pretty much walking right by it
anyway.
When we saw a ranger going to unlock the Snow Creek Cabin for the
winter he was saying how to put all this food into the bear locker
by the cabin for the winter in order to avoid hauling it up with
snowshoes on.
I never put anything in the bear lockers so I cannot attest to if people
like to raid those or not.
Anyway, for a question like this I usually ask myself "well... what if
everyone did this same thing? what would things look like?"
(I'd go with the bear locker...)

Have fun

[sierranomad]

I'd worry more about some other person stumbling on it and taking it.
Why don't you just put some food in the bear lockers at Sunrise TH instead?
In the summer the park service probably frowns upon both ideas
but I would go with the bear locker.

Last year while planning for the JMT I asked whether food could be stored in a bear locker. I got replies varying from "I do it all the time and have never had a problem" to "I always see people raiding the bear lockers".

It seems that the chance of someone taking the food would be pretty small, being that it would probably be there for just a couple of days. And if it were taken, it's not like it would be trip ending - just hop on the shuttle back to TM to resupply at the store.

[balzaccom]

We've never left anything really important in the bear lockers--but I wonder how you know when someone is raiding it, or if they are just going through their own stuff?

[sierranomad]

I wonder how you know when someone is raiding it, or if they are just going through their own stuff?

The pilferers were reportedly bragging about thier clever crime.

[orion]

last week i saw some ants raiding an old pizza in an unlocked bear locker. after crossing the dam i had a good idea who left it. at least the loggers in china camp only have a few sticks left, so they are probably innocent this time.

[hotrod4x5]

I've left food in bear lockers without any problems and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

[hiker97]

The only time I did that was years ago on an out-and-back trip in Sequoia. We bit off more than we could chew on mileage, were not in the best shape that year and my buddy was hurting with the mileage. We had brought along too much so we started strategically packaging up food we would use on the return trip back on the High Sierra Trail. One drop at what would be the night 3 stop and another drop we could pick up the morning of day 3. It was very strategic and probably made the difference in finishing the 4 day trip, but as bill-e-g said, if everyone did that it would be a disaster. Imagine rolling into camp one night, being on a route where you did not have a cannister and were counting on the bear lockers, only to find it jam packed with food!