Updated Black Bears

There were black bears in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the 1950's when I backpacked as a boy. Back then I never saw a bear and never worried about bears getting my food. Today it is a different story. Tales of bears breaking into backpackers’ food bags night and day abound. National Park and Forest rangers no longer relocate chronic miss-behaving bears. Unfortunately, now they just shoot them! The problem is not the bears, but rather it is the people who do not properly protect their food. The bears learn bad behavior in their successes at stealing food, pass it onto their cubs and the cycle repeats.

In August 1982, my first encounter with a bear occurred when I took my then fourteen-year-old son, Jason, on his first backpacking trip. We were hiking out of Twin Lakes, CA into the Hoover Wilderness area on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Toward the end of the hike we dropped into Malby Lake which is at about the 9800-foot elevation. There was lots of snow around, and we saw numerous footprints made by a bear along the north ridge as we approached the lake. It was late afternoon when we arrived, and we were very tired and hungry. We quickly cooked dinner and hastily hung our food bags in the first tree we found about 200 feet from our camp. I threw a rope over a small branch, attached the bags, and tied the other end to the base of a second tree. The wind howled all night long, and we heard strange noises as the trees thrashed about. The next morning we found the disaster. The food bags were ripped to shreds, and the dehydrated food packages were opened and strewn all over the ground. The black bear left only one package of dried string beans, plus a pile of bear scat as testimony to our stupidity. We never even saw the bear. I quickly caught four brook trout that we ate with the remaining green beans. We paddled our gear and selves in several trips to the end of Malby Lake that has steep cliffs on both sides (we had packed a small portable boat). Then we cross-country hiked down Little Slide Canyon through steep snow and over dangerous ice bridges to the trailhead at Twin Lakes. It was not a pleasant end to the trip that should have lasted longer.

That experience began my quest for methods to protect our food from bears. I tried various schemes and improved them though the years. The following is what I have learned and developed. To date we have been visited twice again by bears (three times in one day for each occurrence!), but we have never lost any more food. We took some photos of the second encounter.

If you pack all your food in bear canisters, or if you can counterbalance your food bags according to the National Park Service cartoon in less than 10 minutes then you probably know what to do. This article is for those who would want to protect their food from black bears more efficiently (i.e., time to protect and weight) with reasonable assurance that your food will survive an unexpected bear visit. This article is not intended for protecting your food from grizzly bears, which do not live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains anymore.

Since I wrote this article for the first time in 1999 the National Park Service and the National Forests in California now require the use of food canisters and do not permit using the counterbalancing method in many areas. This is because the counterbalancing method as used by backpackers has failed. So this method is being used less, and ultimately it will become obsolete, along with cooking over an open fire and dipping your cup into a running stream or lake. So for those of you that cling to the nostalgia of the "good old days" this discussion will hopefully help you learn the counterbalancing method so you can use it in areas where it is still permitted.

There are basically two kinds of black bears: wild bears and camp bears (some people call them park bears). Wild bears are the best kind. You might see one or two off in the distance, but as soon as they hear your or get wind of your smell they are off and running. A wild bear might happen upon your campsite. If you are there you can easily scare it off. Wild bears are what bears are supposed to be. Camp bears span the gamut from opportunist neophytes to seasoned criminals. They first learn as cubs from their mothers, or just get lucky one day and happen upon a sloppy hiker's camp. Once they get the taste of human food they are on the road to a life of crime. We as backpackers have a very serious responsibility to prevent black bears from getting our food.

Two options are available to protect your food: "hard" systems and "soft" systems. Hard systems are bear-proof canisters, or steel food boxes placed at many popular campsites in the parks and forests. Soft systems are tree hanging techniques (i.e., counterbalance method - to be discussed), Ursacks, submerging food underwater or placing food in a pit and covering it with big rocks. If you plan to place all your food in the lightest type of canister available today (i.e., the Bearikade) you will add about 2.3 pounds of weight for up to nine person-days of food. On the other hand if you plan to hang your food you can secure the same food with less than an additional 6 oz of weight.

There are tradeoffs using hard or soft systems. If you use a soft system you must be prepared to defend your food if a bears comes into camp, day or night. This means you must be ready to respond aggressively including yelling, jumping up and down, banging pots, blowing a whistle, and most importantly throwing rocks at the bear. Try to hit the bear on the side or back, do not throw rocks at cubs (just makes mom mad) and don't corner a bear (always allow it an escape route). This means if you plan to leave your camp for the day to "bag" a peak you shouldn't use a soft system - because you won't be there to defend your food if a bear happens by.

"But I am going to do a great job of hanging my food so no bear can get it." Wrong! Even a "perfect" hang is not bear-proof. Given enough time a bear will chew through a limb to get your food, and if you hang your food on a thick limb a small bear or a cub may crawl out on it. The name of the game is not "bear-proof" but "time." Hanging your food, at best, buys you time to defend it and scare off any bear who wanders into camp. The better you hang your food the more time you have to chase a bear away - especially at night when you are sound asleep after a long days trek.

If you want to save a couple of pounds of weight and are prepared to accept responsibility for defending your food then read on to learn about the counterbalance method for hanging your food. Otherwise use a food canister - it adds weight but gives you maximum flexibility. Just remember, even when using a food canister you should scare away any bear that come into camp. They need to be taught to have a healthy fear of humans.

If I could carry enough canisters to hold all my food and fragrant accessories I would do just that. But this is not a practical solution for a ten day backpacking trip into the Sierras. First of all each food canister weighs at least 2.3 pounds for up to 9 person-days of food (for me it more like 7 to 8 days - even when I use a canister I often will hang the first night when still at lower elevations where trees permit the method). Next, the packages of dehydrated food today are bulky; plus they swell up like balloons at high elevation (poke a hole in the packages or repackage them). This makes it hard to efficiently store all your food for a long trip into a reasonable number of food canisters, even when repackaging. The solution is to carry enough food canisters to hold a two days supply of food. This should be enough food to get you out of the mountains in a pinch if a bear succeeds in getting the rest of your supplies that are placed in specially constructed food bags. Hopefully this will not happen if you follow the guidance below.

Food bags can be counterbalanced off limbs when suitable trees are available. The most important thing to remember is counterbalancing food bags in trees only buys you time. Given enough time a hungry black bear will succeed in getting your food. The game is to provide sufficient time to discover that there is a bear in your camp, or close by, and then scare it away. Sometimes you may have to do this several times in one day or night since the same bear may keep coming back. Black bears can be very persistent!

In a growing number of areas of California (notably parts of Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks) hanging is not allowed, and food canisters must be used. The wildlife biologist for the Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park states that hanging food causes bears to damage tree limbs, and bears are injured falling out of trees trying to get human food and cutting up their mouths trying to chew through branches. Even with these controversial issues aside, the history of backpackers hanging their food has not been good. This has been a particular problem at higher elevations in the Sierras where tree limbs are not always ideal for hanging food. Bad "hangs" have lead to habituated bears that have had to be shot. The following is how the rangers in Yosemite view hanging your food (Reference):

"Although the counter-balance method of food storage is not illegal (except at High Sierra Camps and above 9,600 feet, where bear boxes or bear canisters must be used), it is not recommended due to its lack of effectiveness and the damage that is caused to trees by persistent bears. If you choose to store your food using this technique, consider it only a delaying tactic. Be prepared to actively defend your food and repeatedly scare bears out of your camp through the night. Without this negative reinforcement, bears will figure out a way to get your counter-balanced food - some bears will go so far as to literally chew the branch off the tree to get at food bags. Help Keep Yosemite’s Bears Wild - Use a Bear-Resistant Canister!

As more and more bears learn to steal food the Park Services are rapidly eliminating areas where hanging is allowed. Thus, it is important that each of us does our best to protect and defend our food, especially when we choose to use a hanging system.

The better job you do in properly securing your food, the more time you will have to scare any hungry bear(s) away. You should counterbalance your food as soon as you reach camp. Many people hit camp, drop their bags and go down to the lake to fish or swim. Since bears will come any time of day or night, you should never leave your food for a minute unless you have it secured. Find a tree with a four-inch (or larger) diameter limb where it meets the tree. Then counterbalance your food bags 10 feet or more from the trunk, with the bags hanging at least 12 feet above the ground.

When choosing a limb I try to select a tree that is right in the middle of the camping area. I like to have my bags hung less than 20 feet away from where I am going to sleep. I often sleep under the stars when it is not raining with a pile of rocks near my head. Also, I often place pots and pans precariously around the base of the tree that holds my food so I will hear a bear starting to climb up the tree. This worked a couple of years ago in the Sequoia National Park at the largest of the Big Five Lakes where a bear came to our camp three times. The last time was about 11:00 p.m. when we awoke as it knocked over some pans we had placed on top of our food canister. My son hit the bear with a rock, and it did not come back.

Counterbalancing your food will buy you a few hours if a bear enters your camp. A bear can chew through a four-inch branch causing it to drop to the ground along with your food bags. But this takes time, on the order of several hours. On the other hand a sow with a cub could drastically reduce this time. Female bears have been known to send their cubs out on a limb and down the rope to the food bags. This could mean you might only have 10 or 15 minutes before the bears have your food. On the other hand, I would guess that throwing a rope over a limb, hanging your food on one end of the rope and tying the other end to a stump (the wrong way to do it!) will give you about 10 seconds. If you are asleep you do not have a chance. Remember, once a bear has your food in its possession it belongs to the bear. You are not going to get much of it back, and don't try it - you may get hurt!

The bottom line is time. When you hike down the trail with your food in your pack you own it. When you take off your pack, even for a drink of water, ownership may start to change. You do not want to leave your pack on the ground unattended. When your food is properly stored in a tree you have time, but not absolute protection. Black bears are cunning sneaky creatures. That is why I sometimes carry a two days supply of food in one or more food canisters as a safety precaution.

Over the years I have developed the gear to efficiently counterbalance food from tree limbs. Here efficiency is measured in terms of hanging time and gear weight. I wish someone would manufacture these items in a kit and sell it. I have tried to give my ideas away to manufacturers like R.E.I., but without any success. So you are going to have to assemble the various items yourself. Shown in the photos below are the following items that you will need:

On the left in the top photo is the main hanging rope (50' to 60' long - I use 60' so I can reach limbs more than 30 feet off the ground), which is Spectra 1000, as are all the ropes shown. This line is light, strong and slippery, which minimizes the friction on the tree limb. The Spectra line can be purchased from Aerodyne Research which is a company that sells materials for parachutes. They sell Spectra Suspension Line for $0.35 per foot that is 1000 lb. test strength. I have tried both the Spectra 1000 and Spectra 825 and prefer the heavier line because it is easier to handle. If you purchase 100 feet of Spectra line you will have enough for your ropes (main rope 50') and for sewing line to four Silnylon sacks (contact Carolyn Sapp at Aerodyne).

The rope in the middle is a 13' length of Spectra line with a bungee-cord hook tied to one end. A small 12-in. piece of line is also tied to the hook. This is used to secure the hook to a long stick, a trekking pole, or a fishing rod when retrieving the bags.

Shown in the lower photo is my carabiner, where I use a 2-1/2 in. long carabiner that I picked up at a fishing shop in Montana for $5. It only weighs 1/4 oz., but it is plenty strong. You can pick one up at a fishing or surplus store near your home.

On the right in the top photo is a food bag (two are needed) that is modified from an 8 x 18 silnylon sack manufactured by Equinox as shown below.

I have been using the 8 x 18 sacks which are now shown on the Backcountrygear.com site where you can purchase them.

My wife sewed the spectra line to each of my four bags. She started with a 6 ft. long piece of Spectra line for each bag which she folded in half and sewed symmetrically to each side. Be sure to leave a generous loop at the bottom of each bag so you can hook it when retrieving your bags to eat (see the loop shown above). I first glued (using GE Silicon II adhesive mixed half and half with mineral spirits) two 1/2-inch wide hemming strips for backing to the inside of each bag, gluing one strip on the seam and the other strip on the opposite side. This made sewing the Silnylon much easier, because Silnylon is not the swiftest material to sew with.

Since the Equinox sacks have a 3/4-inch cloth strap across the bottom, the Silnylon does not need to be sewn across the bottom of the bag. However, for maximum strength the Spectra line should be sewn to the end of each strap at the junction of the sides and bottom of the bag. Then my wife sewed the Spectra line up the sides of the bag about 3/4 the length of the bag (she put a few extra stitches at the top on each side where the Spectra line leaves the bag - for extra strength). I then coated all threads inside and outside of the bags with the GE Silicon II adhesive/mineral spirit mixture. Finally, I just tied a double overhand knot in each of the two loose ends of each bag to form loops for attaching the main rope (see my hand holding the loops shown above).

Also shown in the second photo is a bag to hold all the gear and a small rubber band (use discussed below). I put all the gear in a "Bear Bag" made by Feather River that I got at R.E.I. I just threw away the rope that came with the bag. This little bag has a nice loop attached to the inside that I can hook my carabiner and rubber band to when I am storing them, so I won't loose them. This "Bear Bag" adds 1 oz. weight to the gear. If you don't want to add 1 oz., just put your gear in a Zip-lock bag. Four bags, ropes, carabiner , hook, rubber band and "Bear Bag" weigh a total of 8-1/2 oz. If you only use two bags and substitute a Zip-lock bag for the "Bear Bag" the total weight is only 6 oz.

The following four steps are required to properly hang and retrieve your food:

Finding the "best" branch to hang your rope and food bags will require some practice and compromise. First lets list the attributes of the ideal situation:

I love Ponderosa pine trees with high branches that taper to 1-inch in diameter about 25 feet from the tree trunk. However, I usually get a tree that is significantly less desirable than the attributes listed above, and I am forced to compromise. The issue is how much time will it take a single bear (or a sow bear with one or more cubs) to get your food. As you relax the above desirable attributes for the "perfect" branch in a real situation, visualize how your several hours of lead-time are being eroded. This will mean that attention to your stored food may have to be modified. If your situation is much less than perfect, sleep a little lighter at night.

Once you have found the "best" branch, now you have to get the main rope over the limb and down to the ground. Find an oblong rock about the size of your fist. Attach it to the end of the main rope. I make a clove hitch that I form from two loops that are crossed. Then place the clove hitch over the rock and spread the loops to cradle the rock securely. I usually add two half hitches to keep the knot from loosening when the rock is thrown. Lay the rope out on the ground in large s-shape loops so they will not tangle when the rock is thrown.

Stand back from the limb and throw the rock with rope attached. Throwing the rope over the limb can be challenging (and time consuming). One method that can be easily learned is to twirl the rock like a yo-yo (remember "loop-the loops") and let go at just the right instant. Control of height, as well as left and right, are quickly learned. Getting the proper forward distance takes some practice. For many people this method is easier to master than the straight baseball throw, and takes less energy. Remember to anchor the end of your main rope before you throw it (you can tie it to the belt loop on your pants). Otherwise, you might succeed in throwing your rope over a limb only to have the rock pull the rope past the limb. If you are lucky (which happens once in a while) you will throw the rock and main rope over the limb on the first try. The rock and rope usually will hang down a few feet below the limb. Jostle the rope by throwing wave-like loops and the rock will move downward in increments until you can finally reach it.

More likely than not you will miss the limb, or throw the rock over the wrong limb. In the latter case when retrieving the rock and main rope be careful not to snag the rock on the limb and end up with a mess. Sometimes it is better to follow the instructions given above for lowering the rock and rope to the ground, then untie the rope from the rock, retrieve the rope and start over.

After several tries, and with some patience, you will succeed in placing the main rope over the limb and have the two ends of this rope in your hands. Pull on the two ends simultaneously with sufficient force to test the limb. In some cases you will be too far out on the limb and it will bend down causing the rope to slip off the end of the branch. It is better to find out early if a problem exists, rather than finding out as you are raising your food bags. Throw the rock over the limb a little closer to the trunk, or possibly consider finding a new limb if the current one is too flexible.

Once you have placed the main rope over the limb and feel comfortable that it will hold the food bags, you are now ready to counterbalance your food bags. The weight of the two food bags should be roughly the same. This does not have to be precise because the friction force of the rope on the limb will prevent a slight weight difference from unbalancing the hung bags. Just grab the bags in your two hands and judge if they weigh about the same. Adjust the weight if necessary, but note that this does not have to be rocket science. Toward the end of the trip, when the bags start to get light, you can add a few rocks to the two sides to provide enough weight to insure that the rope will pull smoothly over the limb. Just remember to remove the rocks when you break camp and pack up - ugh!

Tie one end of the main rope to the two loops of one bag (two half-hitch knots will work). Then start pulling down on the other end of the rope until the bag is off the ground. At this time attach the bungee-cord hook and its rope to the loop at the bottom of the bag. Pull the bag all the way up until either the bag touches the limb or the end of the bungee-cord hook rope is just at the top of your reach. If the latter occurs, you did a great job of finding a limb that is high enough and placing the rope over it.


	Tie Rope to Loops on Bag Lines (Use Half hitches)		Hook Loop at Bottom With Bungee Cord Hook

Now comes the job of attaching the second bag to the main rope. At this point I have placed the carabiner in my shirt pocket so I can get to it easily (or put it gently between my teeth if I do not have a pocket). I reach up and with both hands tie the "All-Fools" knot that my grandfather taught me as a boy. The sequence of photographs below shows you how to tie this knot (If you can tie another knot that will not slip then use it).

Overlap the two loops of the "All Fools" knot and hold it with one hand while you grab the carabiner with the other hand and open the movable arm and slip the carabiner through the knot. Pull the rope tight and the carabiner is now in place.

Standing on the end of the main rope so it does not slip, pick up the second bag and place the loops onto the carabiner and let go. The bags will now stay balanced in place. Coil the excess rope, tie it in a big overhand knot and put the rubber band around it. It is important that this rope is very secure, because if a bear gets up in the tree and shakes the limb, you do not want the rope to uncoil and fall to the ground. The bear will go down to the ground and pull the rope, bags and limb down to it, breaking the limb, rope or both.


Place Loops from Second Bag on Carabiner			Coil Excess Rope		Tie Overhang Knot in Rope and Secure with Rubber Band

To level the two bags just pull on the rope attached to the first bag by the bungee-cord hook until the bags are at the same elevation. Knock the bungee-cord hook off the bottom loop with a stick, your trekking pole or fishing rod. Now your bags are secure.

Pull Down on Rope Attached to Bungee-Cord Hook

Pull Bags Even

Remove Bungee-Cord Hook From Bag

You retrieve your food bags just in reverse to hanging them. With a long stick, trekking pole or a fishing rod (use the lower section so you do not break the tip of the rod) lash the bungee-cord hook using the short 12-inch length of rope. Then reach up and attach the hook to the loop that is hanging down from the bag that you put up last - the one with the coiled rope attached. This is important! If you attach the hook to the other bag you will retrieve your bags, but your main rope will come off the limb in the process.

Lash Bungee-Cord Hook to Stick, Trekking Pole or Fishing Rod End

Attach Bungee-Cord Hook to Bag with Coiled Rope

Pull Bag Down

By pulling down on the rope attached to the bungee-cord hook, the second bag will come to your reach. Remove the rubber band, untangle the coiled rope and spread it out on the ground. Unhook the bag from the carabiner, and then remove the carabiner from the rope (the "All-Fools" knot will pull undone easily). I do not recommend leaving the carabiner on the main rope as it could become tangled in the limb when you lower the second bag to the ground.

Remove Bag, Uncoil Rope and Spread it Out on Ground

Remove Carabiner From Rope

Finally, lower the other bag to the ground and remove the rope from the end loops of the bag.


Lower Second Bag to Ground and Untie Rope from End Loops		Now You Have Your Bags!!!

You now have your food bags, and the main rope is back to the position it was when you started.

If you follow these instructions, with practice, you should be able to counterbalance your food bags in about 10 minutes. Retrieving or re-hanging your food should not take more than about 5 minutes each. My hope is that backpackers will use this system to easily protect their food. Bears will then no longer steal people food and will search for their nourishment elsewhere as they have been doing for eons. This will be good for the bears and backpackers too!

(and backpacking trips too!)

By John W. Reed

Photography by Elizabeth Reed