![]() ![]() Obviously, if a bear can’t get their food, it’s less likely to harass some future hiker. I think more people would voluntarily use a bear canister if they thought about it slightly differently. I don’t think it’s a giant leap to conclude that the only time most hikers store their food securely is when the regulations require bear canisters. Most hikers I met at Kennedy Meadows North had rented a bear canister for the Sierra Nevada, and were hastily trying to extend their rental to include the Desolation Wilderness. I did see a trail crew using bear canisters in an area that didn’t require them, but only one hiker I spoke to mentioned that she routinely used one. The other food-hang I saw definitely wouldn’t have worked, although to be fair, that one belonged to a USFS trail crew. Soapbox timeĭuring my time on the PCT, I only saw one food-hang that looked like it would work. There’d been several incidents where bears had stolen food, and I wondered if PCT hikers were to blame. Four days earlier, the US Forest Service had started requiring anyone camping in the Desolation Wilderness to use a bear canister. ![]() I took an Uber back to the trail the next day, curious to see if the bear situation was as bad as I expected. The electronic lock to my motel room still worked though, and I camped in comfort in the dark. That evening, as I sat outside Artemis Mediterranean Grill, the power went out along the boulevard. Fortunately, my to-do list wasn’t long: resupply, check-in, laundry, dinner. Three beers later, I continued, slightly unsteadily, along Lake Tahoe Boulevard. ![]() As I passed the Cold Water Brewery, I decided I might just have enough space for a beer. After visiting the deli counter at Safeway, and eating a little too much, I walked back across town. I arrived mid-morning, which gave me plenty of time to enjoy the amenities of the real world. It was a relief to discover that South Lake Tahoe was a skeeter-free zone. A line of itchy bites was accumulating behind each of my knees, where my legs aren’t quite as hairy. A mile or two before arriving at the highway, I realized they’d found a weakness and were exploiting it. The next morning, as usual, I was pursued by a cloud of ravenous little blood-suckers. I also did a lot of swatting, swearing, and scratching. (Also, it was warm enough that I didn’t want to wear my rain-gear.) I have hairy legs: a useful first and last line of defense given that I didn’t have insect repellant. They’d wander around, probing, looking for a way to get down to my skin. I sat on my bear canister, cooking dinner, watching each annoying little creature land on my legs. As the sun went down, the mosquitoes really stepped-up their game. ![]() The night before going into South Lake Tahoe, I camped at Showers Lake. The nights were warm and there was never much of a breeze, so I just had to put up with the mosquitoes. And that’s what happened every day between Kennedy Meadows North and South Lake Tahoe. However, sometimes it’s just more convenient to stop at a lake or creek that’s near my target mileage. Carrying extra water is a small price to pay for the chance of a campsite with a long-range view and fewer mosquitoes. In general, I prefer dry-camping to sleeping near a water source. ![]()
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