I own a bear canister, but never used it. I'm planning to do Virginia this summer, and I seriously considering to use it for the first time, along with my bear spray. significant weight increase though.
Thomas Knob is very highly used by locals and distance hikers. I stayed there last June on a Sat night with over 100 of my new best friends! I carry a canister, so easy.
don't camp any where near those damn shelters and sleep with your food and you'll be fine
Long time lurker here....just made an account to say that was my reddit post! But yeah....tons of people were camping near me with terrible hangs. I heard the ridge runner telling a guy close by he had a poor hang because it was literally 4 feet from his tent and 4 feet off the ground. The guy said he was used to problem bears since he does a lot of camping in the Smokies. Sigh.
One of the many reasons I stopped using bear hangs years ago. After trying several other methods I’ve been surprisingly happy with carrying a BV500.
A87D203F-5B23-41FA-BFAD-F5FFEB79AEB9.jpeg
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
That was my issue, I had it high enough and far out enough, and did a PCT style hang....but the branch itself looked weak as $hit and I just knew a determined bear could pounce on it a few times and knock the entire branch down. I was just lucky that night.
...but good to see bear boxes put in up there. Great solution, assuming people use them. That area has absolutely gorgeous camping/views, so I understand its popularity.
It is what it is.
Hopefully the bear boxes don't become trash receptacles.
oh they will. count on that
yeah....
thats pretty much a guarantee.........
I occasionally browse trail journals and saw a post related to this.
http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entry/590895
Snippet:
Scissors packed up and we headed for Thomas Knob Shelter. It was a smooth climb to the shelter. When we arrived Pumpkin Spice, Bandito, Chill, and Poncho were there. They mentioned that a bear was trying to break into the bear locker all night long. It even tipped over the locker and tried to dig under it. There was also the remains of a bear bag with empty food packages all over the ground. The owner just left the mess there without packing it out.
I wish I could take credit for it, but I stole the photo from Jester. If he’d had taken a photo of all the terrible bear bags on his 2015 hike, he probably could have made a page-a-day calendar.
http://nighthikingtomars.blogspot.co...ppy_3.html?m=1
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Like the used boots and empty liquor bottle in Thomas Knob shelter last year. Because hikers really need those.
Looks like it worked! It will at least spare the food of anybody using it, but I still think the bear has plenty of options up there with all the campsites for the next .5 mile N of Thomas Knob.
It is what it is.
I plan to hike from fox creek to Damascus very soon and think I will just hike thru this area and camp elsewhere.