Oregon Hikers

I have only done a few over night back packing trips in my life. Want to do more this winter. Columbia Gorge. How many of you really hang your food in a tree at night? Is this over kill or really a good idea?

I have frequently had rodents eat my food, so I always hang my food at least a few feet off the ground

I do a bear hang if I can - 10 feet off ground and 10 feet sideways from tree

If I can't find a good branch for that, I do the best I can

In Yosemite where there are smart bears, I'd use a bear canister, it's required anyway

I never used to hang my food but now I've gotten in the hang of it. When we did a trip to the Olympics this year they required canisters (you can't hang anymore, even though they have bear wires at most of the campsites). We rented them from the Ranger station. Once I got over the inconvenience of the hard canister in my pack, I kind of liked it. The ranger told us they make great stools and he was right. We all used them for stools and they work great. A lot nicer than rocks.

I'm a firm believe in keeping your food away from your tent now.

I rarely hang my food, and only do so if regulations require it. I've got it in an 'odor-proof' bag, and I just stick it somewhere 50ish feet from my bivy and haven't had any problems over night.

During dinner time I've had countless birds and chipmunks come say hello and beg/try to steal, but nothing beyond that. I'm sure eventually not hanging will bite me, but as of yet, nothing. So I'll keep my fingers crossed.

If I were you, I'd just look for any specific warnings or regulations about where you are going. Some places have bears, some places don't. Some times of year have hungrier animals, some don't. Some campsites have nuisance animals, some don't.

I say hang every time. We have few problems around here at the moment, but that can change almost irreversibly if folks keep tempting fate. It's not that hard. PCT method. Works reasonably well even with "bad" limbs if you tug the hang away from the tree a bit and tie off to something else.

Where approved hard canisters aren't required, I carry an Ursack, which is sufficiently bear-proof that hanging is not required. You just tie it to a tree. They cost $70, but they're lighter & cheaper than a canister.

texasbb wrote:I say hang every time. We have few problems around here at the moment, but that can change almost irreversibly if folks keep tempting fate. It's not that hard. PCT method. Works reasonably well even with "bad" limbs if you tug the hang away from the tree a bit and tie off to something else.

This is the definitive and correct answer.

it would be a shame to do a lazy hang, then have a bear discover it, which habituates it to human food, which requires euthanizing it