|Wanderung| Newsletter - Backcountry food storage

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|Wanderung| Newsletter - Backcountry food storage

Proper food storage is vital in the backcountry. Bear-proof caches are available
at many provincial parks, but out of parks and in wilderness areas that's not an
option. In these cases, kevlar bear-resistant bags and plastic canisters can be
used. Still, it's always better if a bear doesn't get to your food in the first
place.

The following couple of articles give an interesting perspective on the notion
of hanging your food in bear country. In short, hanging it where a bear does not
expect to find food is key.

http://www.explore-mag.com/The_H ... with_Cliff_Jacobson

http://www.cliff-jacobson.com/bearproof.shtml

It's equally important to make sure you keep a clean campsite - do not eat in or
near your tent (even if other people are doing just that!), pick up food
wrappers and scraps and pack out all trash. If you're not familiar with the
principles of Leave No Trace camping then head on over to their website to find
out more:

http://www.leavenotrace.ca/home

(Note the principles apply just as much to day hiking as to backpacking!)

Inexperienced or careless backpackers have led to problems with habituated bears
at campgrounds, such as this case in the Olympics earlier this year:

http://www.wta.org/signpost/food ... ses-area-to-camping

As the saying goes, a fed bear is a dead bear.

Even if bears are not a problem, you can be sure that rodents will be. Pretty
much everyone who's slept in a cabin has a mouse story to tell. Pack rats in the
Stein, marmots at Twin Lakes, mice pretty much everywhere else. Another good
reason to keep food secure and away from your tent and pack!