Yellow Yellow the bear

peak_bgr said:

When it comes to camping in the high peaks area, I think there is a huge bell curve. I hear some of the craziest stuff at EMS. The latest was "is there a place to eat on the way up Marcy?", I can't even make this crap up.

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Given there *IS* a snack shop on Whiteface and Washington, you almost expect it!

peak_bgr said:

The latest was "is there a place to eat on the way up Marcy?", I can't even make this crap up.

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HA...too funny!
Last week while coming down Dix some people going up asked if they were still serving Mojitos on top. Joking of course. I told them no, we drank them all!

lies-lies-lies

Last week as we got back to the car after Allen trip, I told a couple of the guys I was with that we should go to the new Timmy Ho's in the town of Adirondac just down the road

fritz said:

Last week as we got back to the car after Allen trip, I told a couple of the guys I was with that we should go to the new Timmy Ho's in the town of Adirondac just down the road

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Yeah, I heard that Timmy's and Wendy's are going to lease space in the MacNaughton House and open there on weekends. The Upper Works KOA is sure to follow soon....

I can't understand why the DEC doesn't install bear vaults in the high use areas. They seem to be in all of the National Parks and have been for years. This is even more important now with this bear who can open the canisters.

Sparkdog said:

I can't understand why the DEC doesn't install bear vaults in the high use areas. They seem to be in all of the National Parks and have been for years. This is even more important now with this bear who can open the canisters.

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2 reasons:
1) The same reason they had to take the cables down; people weren't using them correctly and in turn leaving everyone's food vulnerable instead of just their own.
2) Last time I was somewhere with a bear box it was filled with rotting garbage and old food. Given the garbage I see at a lot of leanto's I have no doubt this would happen to the bear boxes as well.

bignslow said:

2 reasons:
1) The same reason they had to take the cables down; people weren't using them correctly and in turn leaving everyone's food vulnerable instead of just their own.
2) Last time I was somewhere with a bear box it was filled with rotting garbage and old food. Given the garbage I see at a lot of leanto's I have no doubt this would happen to the bear boxes as well.

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1) Same could be said of cannisters.

2) Sounds like the lean-to's need to go. At least in the bear box the bear wouldn't be getting the food/garbage. (FWIW, every box I've ever used was clean and empty.)

Pete_Hickey said:

I suspect that the bell curves of bears' and peoples' intelligence are not entirely disjoint. IE there are smart bears who are smarter than dumb humans.

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They become managment. I can see it in Dilbert now...furry CEOs that sneak into the cafeteria stealing the less intelligent employes lunches when they are not looking. Seems pretty metaphoric to me.

Rik said:

1) Same could be said of cannisters.

2) Sounds like the lean-to's need to go. At least in the bear box the bear wouldn't be getting the food/garbage. (FWIW, every box I've ever used was clean and empty.)

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The only argument I have with #1 is that if someone else comes in and doesn't use their bear can correctly it only affects their food wheras if everyone's food is in a common place and they do it wrong, it effects my food as well (and yes I realize, I don't have to use a bear box just because it is there).

I can't really argue with point #2

The food hanging system I saw down in Great Smoky NP was pretty involved and I thought it should be foolproof....until I met a local who showed me the pitfalls. You could see clawmarks all over the poles and he mentioned that the locals called the system bear pinatas.

On another note: I carry the a Bear Barrel and the directions clearly say that the idea is to be smooth so that the bear can't grip the thing and thus it's like trying to hold a watermelon seed. The location is supposed to be a local depression so that it can move around but won't be rolled to Canada. It also tells you to seal your food inside using a special bag (that you can only buy from them) that seals food odors better to reduce interest in the first place. It seems like Yellow Yellow is no longer just smelling the food, but just knows what a Bear Vault (read: Cookie Jar) looks like.

I'm hoping to do some of the ADK's soon....seems like bears are more of an issue than in WMNF. I've never even had an animal move my bear barrel, despite camping in the backcountry frequently.

mahony said:

I'm hoping to do some of the ADK's soon....seems like bears are more of an issue than in WMNF. I've never even had an animal move my bear barrel, despite camping in the backcountry frequently.

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I have the bear can I think you have. The Garcia, all black, coin operated lid? I have had one since they were mandatory in the high use areas and I have never had a bear touch it. You should be fine

1ADAM12 said:

I have the bear can I think you have. The Garcia, all black, coin operated lid? I have had one since they were mandatory in the high use areas and I have never had a bear touch it. You should be fine

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I still think they should put combination locks on them!