Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:35:52 -0600
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: camping amidst bears, safety question
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embedded responses below
---- Sheilah Rogers <sheilah@SHEILAH.ORG> wrote:
> here i go with another "dumb" question, well actually, it's an admission of sorts.
>
> for all the camping i've done in my dear Vanna, i've somehow only gone to Yosemite once. for those who don't know, yosemite is famous for, among other things, having lots of curious and hungry bears.
>
> the one time i went, the ranger told us to stow our food in bear containers and to absolutely not leave any food in our tent or car.
>
> i looked at him flummoxed.
>
> regarding his safety precautions, i sleep "in a kitchen". one that gets cooked in. one that's presumably permeated by food smells, at least from the perspective of a bear's nose.
>
> so i put the food in the bear container. decided not to pop the top just in case the smells of dinner were particularly delightful.
>
> the next morning the ranger came by and asked us if we heard the bear rummaging next to the van. we had not.
>
> i thought about how i camp in more coastal areas, or in the desert, but usually not in the woods.
>
> so fellow van owners who camp in bear country and cook in their van, do you pop your top?
yes
do you sleep soundly without dreams of bears ripping through your canvas top?
yes
>
> do you think about the smell of your kitchen?
yes
>
> do you think it's impossible to separate the smell of food from where you sleep, assuming you like to sleep in the cozy of your delightful van bed?
yes
i have considered this, and spoken to rangers and other campers about it. i have followed ranger recommendations for the specific locales where i've camped. that has not included Yosemite, where i understand that some black bears are very adept at getting into vehicles. it has included grizzly country.
i've asked rangers and other campers if the camper is a hard sided vehicle. campers have shrugged. rangers have said yes. i have not camped in a campground with known vehicle raiding bears.
now, last summer grizzlies raided a campground in montana near yellowstone, and killed two campers in their tents. rangers then set up tents to lure the bears back, no food in the tents (no rangers either!!). the campground had been evacuated earlier. when the bears returned, they went straight to the tents. the bears were captured and relocated to wilderness areas (two cubs old enough to be independent) and euthanized (adult female known to have raided campgrounds before).
after learning of this (actually, it unfolded while i was traveling through montana to wyoming after camping two weeks in glacier national park), I determined always to sleep with the top down and all windows and doors closed when in grizzly country or where black bears have been a problem. BTW, it is no longer true that black bears have never killed or eaten human flesh. They have, in New Mexico, Tennessee, and in at least one Canadian location. In all cases, habituated bears.
In Glacier last summer, I camped in the camper at a remote site. I didn't worry much about bears when I was in the camper, but when I went out at night to tend to business, I sure gave them some thought. Kept spray handy both in and out of the camper, though.
What about gray water? I usually let it drain to the ground when I am in undeveloped locations, and in a bucket that I empty into a suitable drain if in a developed campground (or in the bushes depending on the situation). But gray water certainly could attract bears. Maybe I need to install a gray water tank.
--
David McNeely
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