The art of the food cache

[gooly]

I'm heading out for a week-long backpack on the LT and want to stash a supply of food somewhere prior to leaving. Is it worth buying or renting a Bear vault? Is the old standard of simply hanging the cache in bear country sufficient? I'm curious to know what successful strategies people have utilized to keep their food stash from burglary.

 

[NH Tramper]

I hang mine.

 

[Lefty E]

Might wanna check out what the Green Mt. Club recommends..like the ADKs in NY required bear cannister..

 

[Tim Seaver]

OpSak

I've had excellent "luck" with OpSaks for use in caching food. Obviously not as secure as a bear canister, but great for multiple stash points. I have never had one compromised by an animal, provided you are very careful not to contaminate the outside of the bag with food smells.

 

[Snowflea]

Summer of 2010 I did the LT using food caches, 6 of them for the whole trail. I used heavy duty plastic 5-gallon pails with lids from Lowes for most of them, also a couple of smaller plastic tubs with lids, and this worked out fine. All food was intact when I got to it. (Yay!)

A bit of advice: try to hide your caches well, but be sure you remember exactly where they are. And please pick them up afterwards! I found a couple of somebody's 2+ year-old caches when I was putting mine out (and threw them away).

 

[weatherman]

I've used Stinkyfeet's method 5-6 times, putting them at road crossings to facilitate pickup later, burying the cache lightly (mostly to make myself feel better), and never had a problem, though it did occur to me that a motivated bear could pry open the lid if it were big enough to dig up and handle the 5-gallon pail. A quick photo of the site, GPS waypoint, etc is a good idea.

 

[gooly]

Thanks for the info! I will employ some of these tactics on my upcoming retreat.

 

[tomcat32]

To avoid the in the wild cache it is VERY easy to get to towns to get food or maildrop along LT. Depending where you are going; Long Trail Inn, Killington, Jonesville, and Lamoille River area are all very close to trail with minimal time lost. Manchester Center is about as easy a hitch you can find anywhere. The LT end to end guide gives all the data of place where in town drops and such can me made. There are others that I can't think of without looking.

 

[Stan]

Anyone stash their cache in a cool mountain stream to keep some items chilled and fresh?

 

[gooly]

Thanks Tomcat! We are only planning on going 70-100 miles starting at south terminus. I'm too lazy to carry 7 days worth of food so I'll stash some vittles somewhere about halfway of our vague goal. I have heard about the relative ease of getting to and from towns off of the LT and wish I had more time to find out for myself!

Stan...interesting concept. I would be skeptical of my own waterproof-packing skills and fearful to find my well sought after booty to be water-logged!!

 

[wardsgirl]

FWIW, I'd guess the chances of your cache being disturbed will be further diminished if you hide it off one of the numerous dirt roads that cross the trail in the south.

 

[Snowflea]

To avoid the in the wild cache it is VERY easy to get to towns to get food or maildrop along LT. Depending where you are going; Long Trail Inn, Killington, Jonesville, and Lamoille River area are all very close to trail with minimal time lost.

True, but if you're looking to make big, big miles and don't wish to spend the time/energy in getting to/from town, and/or you're a lone female who isn't too keen on solo hitchhiking, food caches are a great option!