Any worry of bears in White Mountains

Just wondering if you have any bear trouble camping in the high peak area around the Pemi Range. I know what it is like in the daks but new to New England hiking.

I've only seen 1 set of bear tracks while doing 3 rounds of the 48, but I'm just one data point.

Bears have created problems at Guyot and Garfield campsites. Both of these now have Bear Boxes. There have been several reports in the last couple of years of bears finding food at back country tentsites. The WMNF requires that food be stored safely, and I would strongly suggest that every one camping in the Whites should store food safely. I have not heard of bears confronting hikers since "Brutus" was around in the Pemi a couple of decades ago.

13 Falls also had a bear issue in the last few years, the caretaker reported that the bear was quite aggressive. The campsites on the east side truck road have a bear box. There have also been issues at the Osgood campsite in the Great Gulf. I don't think the issues in the whites approaches the issues in the ADKs.

I'd properly hang your food. Emphasis on properly.

But I'll admit that I've been guilty of being lazy and keeping it in my tent with no problem a couple times, but that was at an unestablished spot in the woods. At a tent site with any traffic I'd store properly because it could be on a bear's "route."

A yearly hotspot for bears is 13 Falls site in the Pemi. I've heard of troubles at Guyot and Liberty in recent years. These sites all have bear boxes.

TDawg said:

I'd properly hang your food. Emphasis on properly.

But I'll admit that I've been guilty of being lazy and keeping it in my tent with no problem a couple times, but that was at an unestablished spot in the woods. At a tent site with any traffic I'd store properly because it could be on a bear's "route."

A yearly hotspot for bears is 13 Falls site in the Pemi. I've heard of troubles at Guyot and Liberty in recent years. These sites all have bear boxes.

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Agreed. Also, many shelters have some pretty smart mice too, so it isn't just tbe bears to keep from your food.

There is a bear who, for the last two summers, would make a loop from 13 Falls to Guyot Shelter, scaring the poop out of many people in the process. He went right up into Guyot shelter and took someone's pack, and also knocked the bear box 100ft down the mountain. The caretaker was armed with a slingshot, and after nailing the bear hard, the bear just looked at him as if to say "What, are you kidding?"

I'm pretty sure something happened to that bear. One that gets that comfortable around humans usually has to be selectively removed from the wilderness.

Is there any advantage to hanging food vs. a bear box or vice versa?

Bear box is easier and more secure, but you have to be where it is available. Advantage of hanging is you can set it up in most wilderness campsites.

Remember canisters as a third option.

I'm glad they're adding bear boxes at popular sites in NH. It will be good to monitor the results. NY DEC steadfastly refuses to use these, at least the last update I had.

If it's a good strong bear box, use it! Bears can get food out of trees in the ADKs like nobody's business. I assume the bears are just as adept in the Whites.

TCD: I thought there were a few being used as tests?

If so, that's great! I had not heard about that...link?

There was a recent article in the Union Leader to eschew the hanging techniques, and go with a bear canister instead.

I've signs a few times of them, but only actually seen one (in a popular backcountry site) in the Whites. I see them more regularly in So. New Hampshire -- 4x in last two years, including a week ago.

I stayed at Hermit Lake a few years back and the caretaker strongly "suggested" we cook our food up at the cabin, far away from the shelters. I guess they've had some issues with bears there too. They have a pretty cool set up there for hanging food.

Some areas in the ADKs require canisters. Unfortunately, once bears in an area figure out that food is hanging, hanging no longer works. My observation is that many folks do a lousy job of hanging food (I've bumped my head on a "bear hang" over the trail at night in the past). If everyone did a good job, hangs would continue to work. But once you train the bears, then it doesn't matter how high you hang the food bag.

I'm a fan of bear boxes, becasue they are easier than carrying a bulky, inconveniently shaped canister, and they are more effective.

Two issues with bear boxes; 1. They inevitably become trash and garbage containers and tend to attract insects. 2 They only work when the food is in it and the covers are latched shut.

The infamous High Point State Park NJ bears would approach the campsite from the woods behind the bear box and generally the cubs would attack the bear box checking to see if it was latched while the mother bear charged the shelter. They did this during supper time when most hikers had their food bags out. The hikers would scatter and the bear would haul off its booty. The Brutus clan in the Pemi had the charge from the woods into the Desolation shelter down to art. They usually grabbed entire packs into the woods and tore them apart at their leisure.

The best approach I have seen is the bear line used at Chimney Pond in BSP. Its a steel cable stretched between two posts with hooks attached to the cable, There is a pole with hook that is used to set the campers food bags onto the line. Once someone figures out how to tie a loop in their foodbag that doesn't slip tight, its not that hard. Chimney used to have significant bear issues years ago but no longer.

The GATC uses a more elaborate system in Georgia which has the same steel cable but additionally a set of smaller steel cables with hooks hanging off pulleys. The hikers lower the hooks, hang their bag and then pull the cable back up and secure it on a latched hook. This works but the bears learned that if they shake the cables for hours on end, that occasionally the bags would fall loose. There is now one section of the AT in GA where bear cannisters are mandatory due to ongoing bear issues.

SNP uses bear poles at their shelters, they are steel poles set in concrete with hooks at the top. There is metal pole with a hook provided for the campers to hang their food bags off the hooks.

Of course none of the hanging techniques work to prevent flying squirrels or even regular squirrels from raiding the food unless the food is in a container or a Rat Sack (steel mesh bag)

peakbagger said:

The best approach I have seen is the bear line used at Chimney Pond in BSP. Its a steel cable stretched between two posts with hooks attached to the cable, There is a pole with hook that is used to set the campers food bags onto the line. Once someone figures out how to tie a loop in their foodbag that doesn't slip tight, its not that hard. Chimney used to have significant bear issues years ago but no longer.

Of course none of the hanging techniques work to prevent flying squirrels or even regular squirrels from raiding the food unless the food is in a container or a Rat Sack (steel mesh bag)

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You are so right on both counts. The bear line works great at Chimney Pond for bears, but it was not squirrel proof a few years ago. One red squirrel was jumping from a balsam fir and getting into food bags. We told the Ranger. He was out pruning/cutting some trees the next morning.

Marty

The USFS has free bear canisters available at the ranger stations and the Lincoln visitor center. Please use them if you are going to a campsite w/o a bear box.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/whitemountain/learning/safety-ethics/?cid=STELPRDB5186355

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/whitemountain/news-events/?cid=stelprdb5434134

JCarter said:

The USFS has free bear canisters available at the ranger stations and the Lincoln visitor center. Please use them if you are going to a campsite w/o a bear box.

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That's great news! Thanks for letting us know about this, I hadn't heard it yet.

David Metsky said:

That's great news! Thanks for letting us know about this, I hadn't heard it yet.

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Used them last November when I was in the Pemi area with a Scout group. The only drawback is that you have to pick up the canister during normal business hours. But you can return them via a "drop box" at the Lincoln Woods visitor center.