Re: Running Out Of Food
Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 3:33 pm
The only time I ran out of food while backpacking is when the bear got it!
My girlfriend (since wife of 40 years) and I were visiting her family in LA for Thanksgiving 1977. Oldtimers may recall that this was at the end of the driest year ever in California. Anyway, a couple of days of relatives was enough so we left and decided to do something at Sequoia Park on the way back to the Bay Area. We got there in time to start hiking the HST from Crescent Meadow at 4 pm. We kept going in the dark by moonlight for awhile before finding a spot to camp. The next day, we made it to Bearpaw Meadow, setup camp, and explored a bit further up the trail.
In my youthful naivete, I figured that since it was the end of November, the bears would be hibernating, right? So no need to string up the food (this was way before bear canisters). Instead, I just left the food bag between some logs next to our campsite, where we were sleeping out with no tent. Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard some noises that woke me. I just caught sight of a couple of small bears taking off; one of them had my food bag in his jaws. Damn! I thought. I'd better go after them. I drug myself up and put on some clothes and went looking for the bears. They didn't go far before sitting down for their snack. They ran off when I came up with my flashlight and loud voice yelling. But the damage had been done. All that was left was one slice of bread and a small handful - maybe 1/3 cup - of raisins.
I retrieved the remains of the food bag and managed to hang my precious remaining calories in a tree. No more bears that night.
The next day, we had to hike out the 12 miles back to Crescent Meadow with just the slice of bread and a few raisins to split between us. We walked fast.
-Phil
My girlfriend (since wife of 40 years) and I were visiting her family in LA for Thanksgiving 1977. Oldtimers may recall that this was at the end of the driest year ever in California. Anyway, a couple of days of relatives was enough so we left and decided to do something at Sequoia Park on the way back to the Bay Area. We got there in time to start hiking the HST from Crescent Meadow at 4 pm. We kept going in the dark by moonlight for awhile before finding a spot to camp. The next day, we made it to Bearpaw Meadow, setup camp, and explored a bit further up the trail.
In my youthful naivete, I figured that since it was the end of November, the bears would be hibernating, right? So no need to string up the food (this was way before bear canisters). Instead, I just left the food bag between some logs next to our campsite, where we were sleeping out with no tent. Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard some noises that woke me. I just caught sight of a couple of small bears taking off; one of them had my food bag in his jaws. Damn! I thought. I'd better go after them. I drug myself up and put on some clothes and went looking for the bears. They didn't go far before sitting down for their snack. They ran off when I came up with my flashlight and loud voice yelling. But the damage had been done. All that was left was one slice of bread and a small handful - maybe 1/3 cup - of raisins.
I retrieved the remains of the food bag and managed to hang my precious remaining calories in a tree. No more bears that night.
The next day, we had to hike out the 12 miles back to Crescent Meadow with just the slice of bread and a few raisins to split between us. We walked fast.
-Phil
