bear sensitivity

[suman]

Hi,

So i've read a book, another one and online material about bear aware backpacking. I am reasonably prepared. Hope to see some bears only from far away. None of what i read answered my super paranoid questions. Here they are.

During the night, should i leave the backpack 50-100 yards away downwind from my tent next to the bear canister?

Should i also leave my shoes there too since they are undoubtedly going to be smelly?

I can handle a few mosquitoes, but in worse case if i spray some insect repellant before going to bed, will that invite bears into my tent?

if i leave my platypus containing water in the outer pocket of my backpack, will that be a problem?

[KC]

Just put everything smelly, including bug spray, in your canister and place it 50-100 feet or so from your campsite. If you have anything that doesn't fit in it, such as a water bottle that was filled with Gatorade, put that with the canister too. That way everything presumably edible to a bear is away from your tent.

Frankly, I've slept plenty of times with my canister 10-20 feet from my tent and been fine. It's really when you're camping in an area popular with bears, such as the Clouds Rest-JMT junction, that they have the potential to be a problem. Just follow the park rules in that case and you'll be fine.

[hiker97]

I've traditionally put the bug spray in the cannister as well, but I've backpacked with a number of folks who leave the bug spray next to the bear cannister and have said the bears never touch it.

[KC]

Agreed about the bug spray. If I had a nickel for every time I forgot to put it in my canister, I might have half a buck or so. Nevertheless, it's probably safer to shove it in the canister or leave it next to it overnight away from camp.

As for the backpack, I usually leave it in camp, just somewhat open so that bears and other critters don't tear it apart if they do take an interest in it. Often, I leave my bladder in it too.

Generally, I think a clean camp is really the best protection in a bear prone area.

[AlmostThere]

The canister is designed so the bear can't easily carry it off and can't get into it. It'll be there in the morning. No guarantees about the pack, which some bears (not remembering where exactly but don't doubt it's true, the bears are pretty wily) will grab and drag off to investigate - and there goes your pack.

Bears have about a thousand ways to get people's food that don't involve hurting the people. There was one somewhere in Sequoia that bluff charged people because somehow it figured out that would make people drop their packs and run. There are bears that will sneak up behind you in a campground and snatch your meal off the bear box in front of you if you turn your back. No one in the history of Yosemite has been killed by a bear, and the only injuries happened because people were foolish enough to have a little food in a tent, and the bear was surprised to find screaming kids next to that nice tasty candy.

I keep the pack inside my shelter with me. After marmots chewed up my trekking pole handles to get the salt, I keep those inside too. Deer have also been known to lick and chew salty pack straps, by the way.

[dan]

Bears never touch bug spray or coffee, in my experience. YMMV .

They can smell anything that has food. I was with a woman who forgot to put away a can of tuna. She buried it, but it was gone the next morning. I guess there was plenty of residual smells on the can!

The Black Bears in Yosemite (of any color, not necessarily black) are nowhere near as bad as the Grizzly and Brown Bears in Alaska, Montana, and other areas further north. You don't have to go to extreme measures such as cooking in one spot, changing clothes, and sleeping somewhere else. The Yosemite bears are still to be respected and food still needs to be ALL packed away, but they don't hunt you down and maul you like the Grizzly.

[baseline bum]

Bears never touch bug spray or coffee, in my experience. YMMV .

They can smell anything that has food. I was with a woman who forgot to put away a can of tuna. She buried it, but it was gone the next morning. I guess there was plenty of residual smells on the can!

The Black Bears in Yosemite (of any color, not necessarily black) are nowhere near as bad as the Grizzly and Brown Bears in Alaska, Montana, and other areas further north. You don't have to go to extreme measures such as cooking in one spot, changing clothes, and sleeping somewhere else. The Yosemite bears are still to be respected and food still needs to be ALL packed away, but they don't hunt you down and maul you like the Grizzly.

Crap... have you had experiences like that in Montana? I was planning on doing some backpacking in a part just north of Yellowstone called the Beartooth in a couple of months. That kind of surprises me to hear they're more aggressive there, as the only place in the Yellowstone area that requires bear canisters (I'm still using them anyways) is Grand Tetons National Park. I definitely won't be cooking at camp or sleeping in my cooking clothes, and I'll be camping a ways above treeline, so I hope I don't run into any. I'm kind of wondering about the goats there though. I'll definitely bring bear spray, which is something I have never done in California, though I thought the other precautions for cooking away from camp and not in your sleeping clothes were universal (I usually do that even in Texas. ).

[Wawona1]

Bears never touch bug spray or coffee, in my experience. YMMV .

They can smell anything that has food. I was with a woman who forgot to put away a can of tuna. She buried it, but it was gone the next morning. I guess there was plenty of residual smells on the can!

The Black Bears in Yosemite (of any color, not necessarily black) are nowhere near as bad as the Grizzly and Brown Bears in Alaska, Montana, and other areas further north. You don't have to go to extreme measures such as cooking in one spot, changing clothes, and sleeping somewhere else. The Yosemite bears are still to be respected and food still needs to be ALL packed away, but they don't hunt you down and maul you like the Grizzly.

Crap... have you had experiences like that in Montana? I was planning on doing some backpacking in a part just north of Yellowstone called the Beartooth in a couple of months. That kind of surprises me to hear they're more aggressive there, as the only place in the Yellowstone area that requires bear canisters (I'm still using them anyways) is Grand Tetons National Park. I definitely won't be cooking at camp or sleeping in my cooking clothes, and I'll be camping a ways above treeline, so I hope I don't run into any. I'm kind of wondering about the goats there though. I'll definitely bring bear spray, which is something I have never done in California, though I thought the other precautions for cooking away from camp and not in your sleeping clothes were universal (I usually do that even in Texas. ).

The Beartooths are just breathtaking! Don't worry too much about 'aggressive' bears, just be smart about your camping skills. ie..if you spill Mac and Cheese on your clothes and then have those clothes in your camp, you smell like food. I always sleep with just a water bottle, one that hasn't had 'Gatorade' in it and never have had an issue in my ten years of living in Yellowstone. BTW, bears do go above treeline, so don't count that out. And as far as goats go, no worries, you should be more mindful of the weather in the Beartooths than anything. FYI...

[sierranomad]

The rangers in Yellowstone told us that the best way to avoid a confrontation with a grizzly was not to surprise them, that most times grizzlies charge (usually a "bluff" at that) is when people come around a corner/over a ridge and the bear is surprised at how close these "threats" are all of a sudden. Didn't recommend bear bells because they can sound to bears like birds, but recommended singing or talking when you can't see what's close.

We saw 4 griz, and none of them showed any indication of being aggressive. We did carry bear spray, just in case.

[KC]

We saw 4 griz, and none of them showed any indication of being aggressive. We did carry bear spray, just in case.

Never been backpacking in Yellowstone (or Glacier or any other park with Grizzlies) just car camping. Were you concerned about grizzlies before starting the trip? Have to admit, I might think about it.

[sierranomad]

Were you concerned about grizzlies before starting the trip? Have to admit, I might think about it.

Oh, yes, of course. Probably more than I needed to be. This was my first time in grizzly territory and I've heard a lot of stories about them. I'm not quite sure where the balance lies between being too cautious and being prudent, but I'd rather err a little on the side of safety.

One thing they really discourage is hiking by yourself, but I like to hike by myself. So on one hike that had a lot of bends and rises, not only was I singing/talking, but I also had the bear spray in my hand (was not far from a river, and thought a bear could likely not hear me). A couple of hikers came around one bend and smiled when they saw me carrying the bear spray . But as I said, I'd rather be a little over-cautious than surprise a momma bear.

[suman]

So i got back from the trip. I started my trip expecting a bear to snatch away my food or maul me at every corner. After two nights, i felt totally safe. Bears caused two different neighbors trouble on two different nights in two different locations. Both were caused by overlooking some minor detail, like reusing a coke bottle for water and leaving lip balm in the tent.

i left most of my stuff far away from the tent. everything smelly in the canister. shoes and socks along with the backpack with all the zippers opened. I strictly followed the bear-muda triangle rule and made sure my tent, smelly stuff and kitchen are about 30-50 feet from each other.

I had some deer approach my tent, but no bears i think.