winemanvan wrote:There are certain areas where you are guaranteed to see a bear. Places like: Hetch Hetchy, Pate Valley, anywhere near Yosemite Valley, or near Cedar Grove, but I've seen them in remote, less traveled places like Tehipite Valley. A big, healthy 400+ beauty, who took off like an agile defensive lineman when he saw me. No matter where I go, I always take precautions against bears. The one time you don't is when the bad ass muthas will show up, and ruin your trip.
If you're hanging your Ursack from a tree make sure the bear can't reach the cord it's hanging from, because if he does he's taking off with it. Otherwise tie it around the trunk of a medium sized tree using its long cord. Or use the big boulder method when above the tree line. It's easy.
I have never had any problems with mice getting into mine, and there's no way I'm carrying steel wool in my pack.
+1
And bears certainly go high up over passes to go from one place to another- as folks are suggesting- but they aren't foraging for food up there. That's the difference. And I'd be interested if anyone's see a bear up at high elevation at night. I suspect that would be fairly unlikely.
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