Bear and Critter Concerns : What to do?

With The Colorado Trail hiking season upon us, I’ve been getting a fair amount of questions concerning bears on The Colorado Trail.

For someone not used to backpacking where there are bears, I can see the trepidation.

For the most part, though, I think critters (meaning squirrels, chipmunks, mice, porcupines and even deer at times) are more of an issue than black bears.

You are more likely to have your food attacked or compromised by a mouse than a bear.

Having said that, the same strategies I suggest for critter control equally apply to black bears.

Now notice I did not say grizzly bears.  A different discussion is required for these large, but very impressive, animals. Something outside the scope of this article.

First, let me state a few things:

• Though written in mind for The Colorado Trail, these tips apply to any area where there are concerns about black bears and/or critters.

• Local regulations trump these suggestions. If you have to use a bear canister, you have to use a bear canister.  Likewise with any other food lockers, poles or any other designated apparatus for food storage. More and more places are requiring bear canisters as an FYI.

• I don’t believe in the effectiveness of bear bagging. I think it is time-consuming, difficult to find the proper tree, can cause injuries, easily defeated by many bears and is seldom done correctly anyway.  But, again, if you have to hang a food bag due to regulations, the PCT Method is advocated by some.

This chooch was injured by bear bagging. 🙂 Being serious, I was the “patient”, and wore the makeup, for an exercise on bear bagging injuries during a Wilderness First Aid course I took. Injuries while bear bagging is common enough that it is a scenario for NOLS/WMI courses. 🙂

• Unless mandated, a bear canister is an overkill for most black bear/critter areas.

• Ditto with bear spray

• Finally, most people reading this article are probably new to backpacking in black bear country; esp if they are asking questions about it.  Though many successful hikers will cook and eat their dinner, hike on a mile or so and sleep in a non-popular camp spot with their food in their shelter,  I am guessing most people new to black bear area camping are going to want to be more conservative. Plus, land managers don’t look too kindly on this tactic. Not saying not to do it..but if you are asking about it and not sure, you probably should not. 😉

So, having said all that, what to do?

Here are my personal recommendations for someone new to backpacking in black bear country and aren’t sure what to do. And, I emphasize again, you are more likely to have problems with critters (rodents especially) more so than black bears. These tactics work equally well for critter control.

• DO NOT CAMP IN A POPULAR AREA IF YOU CAN AVOID IT   Animals are smart.  They go where acquiring food is easy. See a large, impacted area with a fire ring and possibly trash? Don’t camp there!  Obviously, esp in a National Park Service campsite where the spot is designated,  that is not always an option. But try to avoid these obvious and heavily used sites if it is an option.

• On a similar note, try to avoid camping where animals obviously feed or linger.  A huckleberry patch or a watering hole area? I would not camp there.

• Since odor tends to draw animals, something like the Opsak is very effective. Cam “Swami” Honan is a very big advocate of them and wrote a very positive review. I’d pass on the Limburger cheese, fried bacon and strong fish as well for camp food. 😉

• Sleeping and eating in different areas is always a good tactic when possible.

•  Finally, and not least, for the person who is especially concerned about bear or critters, an Ursack works well. They are available in many stores such as REI.   Made of Kevlar and extremely tough. At just over 7 oz, much lighter than a 2+ lb bear canister!  And, perhaps even more important, less bulky and the Ursack is malleable, too.   No need to bear bag; simply tie securely to a stout branch per these instructions.  And keep the sack away from your immediate campsite. Used with an Opsak, the Ursack work well.
  • Good news:  The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) recognizes the effectiveness of the Ursack.  
  • Bad news: Not all National Park Service units recognize the Ursack.  More conservative park superintendents and officials still mandate a canister. Rocky Mountain National Park, Kings Canyon/Sequoia, etc. among them.  (Though Denali, with its grizzly bear population, allows Ursacks. Go figure.. They simply call them BRFC – Bear Resistant Food Containers.)  Call first when in doubt. There are no restrictions for the Ursack on The Colorado Trail.
    • UPDATE August 2016:The exception for bear precautions on The Colorado Trail is new as of August 2016.Nicely summed up by Jerry Brown of Bear Creek Survey:
      

      Hikers need to be aware that the USFS has just enacted new restrictions regarding food storage which is in effect for San Isabel and Pike National Forests. This affects both the CDT and CT where they cross popular car camping roads. The regulation requires that food be stored in hard canisters or hung 10 feet above ground 4′ from the trunk of the tree. No consideration is given for Ursacks, so I think they will need to be hung within the described zones. The zones are 1/2 mile wide (1/4 mile on each side of the roads.) Roads included are Halfmoon, Winfield, Hancock, Cottonwood, Mt. Princeton/ Chalk Creek, and Buffalo Creek/ Little Scraggy on the CT. These restrictions include portions of both the Collegiate East and West routes for the CT.

      For most hikers of The Colorado Trail, the main place impacted will be the popular USFS Bootleg campground  near Princeton Hot Springs. As of Sept 2017, this campground now has a bear food storage locker.

From South Park. Of course…

So fear not “Da Beahs“.  With some simple execution of these ideas, the critters and such will not be as much of an issue.

No bears..but here’s a cute critter who was around for many of these articles. 🙂

Happy Trails!

“Do you hang your food?” The bears just may not GAF. 😉

A post shared by Paul Mags (@pmagsco) on Jan 17, 2017 at 8:00pm PST