Bear canisters now required for backpackers in entire Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness

It's starting to look like I might just need to buy one. Besides I HATE hanging my food, so I may actually like using one better anyway.
 
After a long day hiking, getting to camp late and cooking dinner, the last thing I want to do is try to find a good tree to hang my food from. I'm not a lightweight packer anyway, so what's a little bit more weight.
 
I like my Bear Vault, very easy and love not having to hang. And surprisingly, I've never had it messed with by anything. The only down side is the weight and bulk of it.
 
The ironic thing here is, for all the people and trash left behind our Wasatch Mountains here in Utah sees, despite having a fairly healthy population of bears, incidents are incredibly rare. While on my last little trip a couple weeks ago, we stumbled onto a fire pit with at least a half a pack of hot dogs to the side that had been left behind and had obviously been sitting out for quite some time. I was shocked, because I personally know some neighbors who have actually encountered and sighted bears right near the meadow.

I'll agree to the inconvenience of having to find and get a good hang when arriving late to camp. In many areas here in Utah, it's really hard to find suitable trees to get a good hang. I almost always have to rely on hanging off one tree and anchoring to another to get the bag far enough from the tree trunk because there is almost never a tree in the area with a sturdy enough branch hanging out to support a bear bag far enough away from the main trunk. Still, I think I'd rather hang, or even double bag with odor proof bags and hide it away somewhere if I can't find a suitable tree(s) to get it out of reach and then just cross fingers it all survives the night rather than haul up a bear canister where it's not required. For me, the inconvenience of hanging is worth the lesser weight and efficiency of space in the pack.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top