boundary waters area
You’re right, but I tend to think of the boundary waters area as the area of lakes and rivers about 100 miles on either side of the border. Cliff goes further north for his wilderness trips.
Hanging food
As mentioned, an experienced bear may be able to tell food caches by sight. If you go where many people go, bears will get accustomed to what people carry and what smells/tastes good.
On the other hand, wildlife seen while “out there” probably has never seen a human before, does not know what a food pack is and, most importatly, is more afraid of us than we are of them. I’m always amazed at how fast a bear is when in retreat after sighting a human.
I’ve never hung food and never had a bad experience with animals. Our food is always stored in barrels though.
Paul
If you think Cliff’s ideas
– Last Updated: Jan-23-04 5:50 PM EST –
regarding food placement are off base, how about Bill Mason. He would keep his food pack just outside the front of his tent so that he could scare away any animals that tried to pilfer anything. He claimed that bears where to afraid to get that close to the tent to bother anything. While I'm not as sure about that as he was, I have to say that I personally keep my food in a air tight barrel, tied to a tree on the ground, just on the fringe of my camp site. This has worked fine for me for over 25 years of canoe camping in central Ontario's black bear country.
Cliff will be at QWS in Michigan…
http://www.homestead.com/qws/QWS2004.html
9th Annual Quiet Water Symposium
An annual event where those who share a love of outdoor, non-motorized recreation come together to share:
Our Experiences and Adventures in the great outdoors
The Equipment we build and use
Our Concerns for our waters and related resources
Opportunities to participate
Date: Saturday March 6, 2004
Location: The Pavilion for Livestock and Agriculture Education
(Farm Lane, south of Mt Hope - on the campus of MSU)
Time: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Admission: Adults $5.00 - under 12 Free
PRESENTATIONS AND SLIDE SHOWS - include
Gary & Joanie McGuffin
(Paddling & Preservation: Ecotourism as a Way to Save Wilderness)
Cliff Jacobson
(Packing and Portaging)
(Bear Proofing Your Camp)
Dick Person
(Freedom in the Wilderness: 17 years living in a Tipi in the Yukon)
–David