"Wilderness" camping

After the rally this year, I'm heading North into Canada, and up to Radisson via the James Bay Road. It looks to be a trip i will be making alone. That's no big deal; I can work on my own bike, I'm packing spare parts, and I'm going to learn to change my own tires by then. Aside from something catastrophic, I should be OK. Well, except for camping.

For two nights I will be in very remote areas camping in bear territory. I'm a bit nervous about it. I keep thinking I'll be laying in my tent and a bear will come along and tear into my tent like he's unwrapping a candy bar. That, or I'll be packing my tent and turn around to smoky standing behind me. That makes me think I won't sleep too well. I know a lot of people go up there and camp just fine, but I read a lot of people seeing bear along the road. I also know they are black bear which tend to be non-aggressive, but I hear if they approach you, they're looking for a meal. I know about being careful with food, and I have a big can of bear spray; which I hope to never need. Am I just being overly worried, or should I just sleep in my full riding gear for extra protection?

When you camp in bear country, your camp should be three separate camps, all separated by at least 100 yards. Your first camp is your bedroom. This is where you set up your tent. DO NOT KEEP ANY FOOD, DEODORANT, TOOTHPASTE - anything with a "human" scent - at your "sleeping camp". The "sleeping camp" MUST be upwind from the other two camps.

The second camp is your kitchen. Here is where you'll prepare and eat your food. You can also keep your food in this area, as long as it's either in a bear-proof cannister (Garcia is the brand name of the bear cannister I have) or in a "bear bag" hanging from an extended tree branch. When using a bear bag hung from a tree, keep in mind that bears can climb trees and break off branches to obtain your food. You'll need a durable bag (like an old sleeping bag stuff sack), about 100' of rope, and a weight at the other end of the rope you can use to throw the line over a sturdy, high tree branch as far from the trunk of the tree as you can manage. You can tie a rock to the end to serve as your throwing weight. Once the rock comes back down, pull your bag up and secure it to another tree - some bears have figured out that if they cut through the rope tied to the tree, they've just created a big bear pinata full of YOUR food.

The third camp is your dish washing/personal hygiene area, where you wash your cookware, brush your teeth, apply deodorant, etc.

It sounds silly and extreme, but if you truly want to sleep soundly in bear country, you can't have anything that smells remotely yummy to bears anywhere near you. Let the bear investigate your "kitchen" and your "dishwasher" while you slumber away out of the bear's sight and scent.

Now if you could just set up your camp to keep the mosquitoes away...

Good advice from dvandkq.

Bears have a VERY good sense of smell. A couple years ago we were backpacking in the smokies. The remote campsites there have cables to hang your food etc..

We hung our food, but mot the pack that we carried the food in. The next morning we woke to find that pack moved about 20' with a hole clawed in the hip belt. You bet that night we also hung all of the packs.

So be aware of what has had food in it. You may want to keep it all in one bag. Also if you are leaving from the rally make sure that you think about food smells in your tent before heading north.

Have a good time on your trip.

Absolutely Beer Proof Container

After the rally this year, I'm heading North into Canada, jdmetzger

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Records seem to indicate that this container is absolutley bear proof. Don't worry about what you eat or which way the wind is blowing. The secret seems to be in getting up high enough so the bears refuse to climb. There is also some evidence bears don't like the noise.

The other thing you need to think about is what you eat. Don't be frying up a pound of bacon. I assume you will be taking easy to prepare foods anyway, but just stick to things that you boil water, mix it up and eat it quick. Do not snack in your tent.

You may also want to wrap up your trash in some plastic bags and hang it as well. Or put it another 100 yards away. Just don't forget it when you leave.

You may want to check the border regulations for carrying bear spray. Not sure if they let you bring that across or not, but best to be sure.

When in bear country it is important to make noise. Usually if a bear hears you coming it will move away and leave you alone. Many people wear bells on the pant leg so that as they move the bell makes noise. Also carry pepper spray just in case. It is also important to know what type of bear inhabits the area and you can tell by examining the bear scat. Black bear droppings are full of berry seeds and brown (grizzly) bear droppings have little bells in it and smells like pepper spray.


Richard

LBurner said:

The other thing you need to think about is what you eat. Don't be frying up a pound of bacon. I assume you will be taking easy to prepare foods anyway, but just stick to things that you boil water, mix it up and eat it quick. Do not snack in your tent.

You may also want to wrap up your trash in some plastic bags and hang it as well. Or put it another 100 yards away. Just don't forget it when you leave.

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Absolutely do keep your garbage away from your sleeping area! To a hungry bear, garbage is identical to fresh food. While it may sound unsanitary, simply keep your garbage in a plastic garbage bag (double or triple-bag it if you're paranoid) and keep that with your food in the "bear bag".

Or you could get Touratech side cases and let the bears try to get into those...

Forgive my ignorance, but do most American National Parks have bears as well as the wilds of northern Canada? If so, do they also have eating facilities for those of us not brave enough to tempt the local bears with our food? Bears have been on my mind for camping next summer. I am glad that this tread topic came up. It's one thing to be flattened by a cage, another to become a bear snack.

Good things so far, all!

I COULD take a plane, but something tells me my R80 would not fit into the overhead bin!

As for eating; I'm not going to be doing much of it when camping in those areas. I'm basically passing through, and then getting a hotel room in Radisson. My meals will probably be pre-packaged dry stuff; breakfast/energy bars, jerky, and so on. I was thinking I'd eat before even getting to my campsite, and any food that is with me would be sealed in double ziploc bags, because I'm paranoid.

As for the bear spray into Canada, I had to do a lot of searching on that. You are NOT allowed to enter Canada with a small canister of pepper spray. You ARE allowed to enter with a large canister of the stuff, and I think it has to do with the ability to conceal it, or not. The can I have is 9oz, with a big trigger spray at the top. It is also suggested it be labeled for use against animals, and be EPA approved. The kind I purchased was the strongest I could find, and is actually OK for sale in Canada. It goes by the name "Guard Alaska" I picked mine up from Cabelas.

Instead of camping at one of the many gravel pits and marked sites off the side of the road, I'm thinking about camping at Matagami Lake campground on my way up. I would have to pay, but then I wouldn't be camping all alone. Of course, if other people are careless with food maybe that's a bad idea?

Paul_F said:

Forgive my ignorance, but do most American National Parks have bears as well as the wilds of northern Canada? If so, do they also have eating facilities for those of us not brave enough to tempt the local bears with our food? Bears have been on my mind for camping next summer. I am glad that this tread topic came up. It's one thing to be flattened by a cage, another to become a bear snack.

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It depends on the area you are in. I would say if you're near mountains, there are going to be bears. I found a somewhat scary list of fatal black bear attacks. Many of them take place in Alaska or British Columbia, although Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks have a fair share of the list, too. The last on the list was in April '06 in Tennessee. More concerning for me are the number of fatal attacks in the general area I will be traveling, hence my apprehension.

Of course, the statistics say "There were about 52 recorded deaths due to black bears between 1900 and 2003 and about 50 deaths due to brown bears and about 5 due to polar bears in the same period." That is probably a VERY low chance of bear attack when you consider the number of people in the vicinity of bears.

Fatal attack list here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America_by_decade

Info on the friends I'll be camping with, which mentions black bear attacks (while rare) are generally predatory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear

And to add one more, a more positive view on camping with bears from the USDA forest service, the best quote; "By comparison, a person is about 180 times more likely to be killed by a bee than by a black bear and 160,000 times more likely to die in a traffic accident." I feel less worried, already!

http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/epubs/ht66.html

Use Caution

There have been fatal bear attacks in Ontario and Quebec, but not that many when you consider the number of people encroaching on their territory. I have camped alone in northern Ontario and had no problems. Follow the procedures outlined by dvandkq and you probably won't even know whether or not there are bears nearby. Enjoy the adventure. We look forward to your ride report.

Holly

jdmetzger said:

Good things so far, all!

As for eating; I'm not going to be doing much of it when camping in those areas. I'm basically passing through, and then getting a hotel room in Radisson. My meals will probably be pre-packaged dry stuff; breakfast/energy bars, jerky, and so on. I was thinking I'd eat before even getting to my campsite, and any food that is with me would be sealed in double ziploc bags, because I'm paranoid.

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The biggest concern is not getting eaten by a bear but having a bear destroy your stuff. They will be able to smell food even if you put it in 5 ziplocks, and will be able to tell what container (saddle bag) it was in.

Thankfully when we went to Gregory Bald in the Smokies (with wife, daughter and son) I followed my standard backpacking procedure and kept ALL of our food in one pack. Hung the food bag but not the pack. So a bear sniffed and shredded the hip belt on the pack, in pouring rain. Nothing else was touched.

wilderness camping

Josh:

When I'm camping in bear country, I just keep my bear spray in a boot or shoe near the head of my bed, where I can easily reach it. I've camped a lot in griz country, and I worry a lot about bears, but not when I'm in pay campsites that are full of other campers. Bears are most dangerous when they are surprised, and if they're cruising for food at night, they know that there are people around.

The best book on bears is Steve Herrero's Bear Attacks. You may want to give it a look; you'll feel better.

Don't worry about bears at major campsites in Canada.

Rinty

Link

This link has a lot of good info

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/camping.htm