How's it hangin'?

[DayTripper99]

Food storage. Im not sure if this belongs in Camp Kitchen.

My questions is how do the folks that have solo'd in WCPP (Woodland Caribou Provincial Park) store their food packs and protect them from bears? Im referring to solo trippers without dogs - just by yourself. The optimum storage system is to hang it up high by a tree branch using the PCT method. But in the WCPP that is not always an option due to the type of forest, or lack there-of in the areas effected and skeletonized by recent fires.

 

[Guest]

Don't know what the WCPP is, but in the ADKs I tie a bear proof bag to a tree at chest height. bear bags are a pain to hang properly and bear canisters are heavy and bulky.

 

[yellowcanoe]

There is plenty of natural food in WCPP. They won't be after your food. On my two 11 days each solo in WCPP I never even saw a bear. I used the good ole blue barrel and stashed out of camp. I did check for fish guts and cleanliness at each campsite and found nothing of that sort. A couple of times I think I wasn't even at a site.

Your animal enemy is more likely to be a red squirrel but compared to Quetico there weren't many around.

WCPP is so low in use that human habituated bears are not there.

 

[DayTripper99]

Hey Turtle, any issues so far with that method? Ive looked closely at the URSAK here in Canada, but im still on the fence and looking for real user experiences and reviews.

 

[Robin]

I did a 12 day solo trip in WCPP and never hung my food. I keep my food in two sealine bags inside a Duluth Pack day pack and my method was the same as I do everywhere. I walk out front of the site and walk along the shoreline till I find a bushy/rocky place and toss the bags in there very close to the waters edge. I don't leave the Duluth Pack day pack there, that comes in the tent with me. Losing my food would be bad, losing that good old pack/friend would be heartbreaking.

In the picture you can see the bags and pack close to the fire, no doubt picking up all sorts of food smells, plus my cooking hands handling the bags leave a scent also. Not sure what that all means, but I have never had a problem even if the bags have a smell to them.
Most if not all the sites I used in WCPP had seen little to no use, so I had zero concern about bears.

 

[recped]

I've been solo tripping in Northwestern Ontario for the last few years, I never hang food at least not since the late 80's when I thought it was "required". I basically live in a floorless shelter around camp, most nights sleeping in it as well along with all my gear except perhaps for my "cooler bag" which starts the trip as depository of fresh food and transitions to a trash storage unit. That bag can get a bit smelly so I often (not always) move it outside nearby because it can attract mice.

I check my campsites for signs of bear activity and will generally pass on any site where fresh indicators are found (rarely), I'm also mostly camping in places that have either never been used before or have not been used more than once or twice per season if that.

Different methods employed in polar bear territory of course or when tripping in heavily used parks (Killarney, Algonquin) but in the boreal of Ontario and Quebec I have virtually no concerns about bears. Last summer on the Albany (east of WCPP) I saw one bear in 46 days, he ran away so fast I never got a chance to take a picture.

 

[Mihun09]

In the western side of the park, Crystal Lake, Broken Arrow area, never saw a bear but did see 4 caribou and a cougar on B.A.

Never hang the food.

 

[Qayaq]

I've also spent quite a bit of time in WCPP and have only had a brief glimpse of one bear disappearing into the bush. I use a blue barrel and set it a short distance away and have never had a problem.

 

[Guest]

I have never had trouble with my ursak or ratsack. I do double plastic bag my food in them to eliminate smells. red squirrels and chipmunks can be a problem, particularly in often used campsites and leantoos. We have had packs and food bags damaged that were in camp. Where legal a rat trap is a great fix for them.

 

[memaquay]

I've been tripping in Northern Ontario for almost 30 years. The only people I know who hang food bags or worry about bears are generally people from southern Ontario. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as long as they don't try to make me eat that quinoa crap while I'm frying my spam, we can all be friends.

 

[DayTripper99]

Wow, thanks for the fast and numerous replies. Like yellowcanoe, i have and use a blue barrel. However, I always hung my food pack when traversing Algonquin Park but was unsure about WCPP. This will be my first trip and wanted to confirm the "tie your blue barrel to a tree" system.

Although this food pack on the ground idea will take some getting used to, Im confident now and this will no longer be a concern. Thanks again for the responses. (I live in Northern ON)

 

[sweeper]

I've never hung my food. Keep a clean campsite and the only measures we've taken is to pile all the cookware on top of the food barrel and everyone keeps a flashlight handy. No problems so far, knock on wood.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Wow, thanks for the fast and numerous replies. Like yellowcanoe, i have and use a blue barrel. However, I always hung my food pack when traversing Algonquin Park but was unsure about WCPP. This will be my first trip and wanted to confirm the "tie your blue barrel to a tree" system.

Although this food pack on the ground idea will take some getting used to, Im confident now and this will no longer be a concern. Thanks again for the responses. (I live in Northern ON)

I am sure you have amused yourself having a burger at Canoe Lake and watching at the first timers try and steer a canoe.. Lots of them are clueless about clean campsites and best bear practices. The bears are smart and know that they can get a meal off a camper if they watch closely.. and they do.. being habitual.. That said I have seen a bear every time I have camped in Algonquin ( mostly on the water and on portages) and haven't yet been able to run into one.. One passed about four feet in front of my canoe from a thicket and ran away pell mell right away.

WCPP is much less traveled and much less first timer usage.

 

[Marten]

I have spent over a year of camping nights in WCPP and have never hung a pack. Listen to what others have said here. I would add a few things. Be careful you are not using a shore lunch site. It should be obvious it is more than a campsite and you will only see these on lakes with large outpost camps. Clean your fish out on a rock a long ways from your camp. If you do see bear droppings at the campsite- move on. If you do see a bear in WCPP it will be running away as fast as it can.

 

[Iskweo]

OOOOOOkayyy. This is where I divulge my super secret food securing method. I dont worry about it. We use a barrel, and a soft sided cooler for the first couple days fresh food. I never hang...waste of time. The barrel stays in the site with me, albeit tied to a tree, or not, depending on whether I feel like it. One thing I do often is put the pots on top of the barrel as an early warning system to let me know something is messing with my eats. THEN its on baby.
I do make sure that I clean up right away after meals and the food stays in the barrel, not scattered about. Rodentia is the main issue. Bears not so much. But I always play to the larger problem, so dealing with the nibblers is covered in that approach.

In my younger days I often just took a cardboard box and a winchester ...it seemed to work out.

Christine

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

When I first read the post title I thought of hammocks (or worse). As several have said already, I don't worry about bears too much either. Rodents are by far more likely to mess with your food. I pack food in a waterproof and thus hopefully odor reducing bag and stash it away from camp in a grubpack.



GrubPack https://www.flickr.com/photos/133956285@N05/

 

[Odyssey]

I have hung my 30L barrel before. I was quite proud of myself, having mastered a simple pulley system to hoist the heavy tub aloft. Well away from the ground, tree trunk and branch. It was perfect. Each perfect hang I nearly never wanted to bring it down; I'd taken some time to get it just right. But after struggling on some trips to duplicate the perfect barrel hang every time, I eventually gave up. I started practising the stash. Sometimes 30 yards but usually more from campsite, under low low living branches, often close to shore. If need be I tuck in an added hemlock or spruce branch I've harvested elsewhere, though that is seldom needed. There are lots of fir trees with ground hugging branches to choose from. If not, I walk further from camp. I tie the barrel to the tree, and yes that is awkward. Stainless carabiners are left always attached, hopefully to jangle enough for us to hear 30-100 yards away. (That is why I don't want it too far.) I don't use any kitchen pots as a warning system, because I can't be certain they're perfectly clean enough not to act as an attractant. The barrel is kept scrupulously clean. Even if I were hanging, that is always absolutely necessary. For that reason alone I've altered our tripping menus somewhat, and all food is watched and contained at all times. My food exploration with dehydrated is as much about it all keeping cleaner and contained, as it is about simplifying prep and weight/volume issues. It's usually just us two, so I go way OTP in this regard. Kitchen is cleaned up entirely before the both of us so much as wanders off to do whatever chores await us. We've started bringing along bear bangers, mostly for peace of mind I suppose. All this sounds @n@l to northerners I know, but we started our tripping lives in Algonquin PP, where the occasional problem animal comes to call it seems. I, like most animals on this planet, am a creature of habit. I'm making it a habit to leave no trace, especially around the camp kitchen. It takes practise, like anything else. I'm only deluding myself to think I leave no scent trace, nor crumbs of food anywhere, but if I can prevent even one wildlife encounter in camp, then it will have been worth it.

 

[Marten]

I stated in a previous post that bears in WCPP are always running away from you. I do remember an evening when the bear was running at me. Light was fading fast and I was just finishing a smelly pot of Tuna Helper. A loud ruckus across the very narrow water I was camped on alerted me to something running towards my camp but on the opposite shore. I probably grabbed my tiny hatchet because I had no other defensive weapons. Then I saw the Black Bear running full speed and I was sure it was coming for my Tuna Helper. It veered away from the other shore and the crashing branches faded into the distance. I kept watch as it got dark not really feeling like getting into my little tent. It was then I remembered stepping out on that other shore down past where the bear came running from. That had been three hours before supper but when that bear came upon my scent it hightailed it north and I witnessed it running away from me but coming right at me!!

 

[Guest]

A friend who goes to Alaska told me they bag smellables and then bag them again in a bag with mothballs in it. I wonder how the food tastes? Will someone please tell me what WCPP is?

 

[memaquay]

Just to be clear though, one should have some type of bear repellant with them. There has been an escalating number of predatory bear attacks in northern Ontario. I had my first strange encounter with a bear a couple of years ago. It would not leave when yelled at, so I fired a bear banger off in its face. It left then. So although I have had mostly positive experiences with bears, one should be prepared with spray or bangers or a boom stick.