Humphreys Basin – food/bear strategies

As for Humphreys Basin itself, no trees suitable for hanging. It's wide open. You could possibly camp near a cliff wall and climb high enough to stash your food, but little critters might still get into it. Frankly this is probably more work than it's worth.

Above treeline in that area is pretty barren. Are you going off trail? That might change the calculation somewhat. IMO this is also about the bears' health, not just personal convenience.

Bear canister is pretty foolproof.

–B.G.–

We are going off trail for some to most of the trip, not decided yet as to route. We haven't been to that exact area before, so just weren't sure of the need for canisters (either due to tree availability or lack of bear presence). When we did a similar trip through the Darwin area many years ago (with Kevin Sawchuk's dad!), as I recall we hung food, at least most of the time, definitely did not use canisters, and had no bear problems (Lloyd is the master of bear hangs). But it's a different area, and probably 20 years later, so conditions may be quite different.

Agreed about the bear health issue.

It may be time to spring for a Bearikade…just realized our Garcia is the really heavy old one, so may retire it to the earthquake closet!

"Bearikade…Garcia"

You may find that the BearVault brand is a good compromise.

–B.G.–

Yes, we have one Bear Vault already. Debating the merits of spending big bucks to save some ounces if we buy a second canister…

Bearikade scout. Good for six days. Packs great, so lightweight that you really don't begrudge having to carry it. Lasts 'forever', so if you pro-rate the cost over dozens of trips, it's not so bad…

depending on where you are gonna be in the area (elevation wise), there may be a slim chance for bears. Most bears are not gonna be much above 8000ft, not enough food for them. I have backpacked extensivley in the area, and never used canisters and never had a problem with bears….

I would not worry so much about bears at that altitude most of HB is above tree line. Just be smart and put the food in the boulders or rocks a safe distance from you.

Puppet Pass and Puppet Lake

Humphreys Basin sees a huge amount of human traffic, so even though it's up high the bears know they can find food there. I would recommend a canister.

Maybe it's the fisherpersons headed in to fish, but the couple times I've touched the edges, have not seen folks. Have fun Debbie.
Duane

Well, it sounds like opinions are divided (that's OK, so is mine and I'm only one person). The trip's a ways off yet, so there's time to ponder it. Thanks for everyone's input.

A couple of years ago the Sierra NF started requiring canisters. The Ursack is acceptable. Personally I have backpacked all over the San Joaquin region for over 30 years and have never had a bear issue. That includes multiple trips to Humphreys. Nor has my friend, who is a wilderness ranger. But somebody always has to make a rule, needed or not.

Based on the regulations and the feedback above, it seems that an Ursack without a liner may be a reasonable approach. I am heading up to the Humprhey's area in mid-August and would appreciate any feedback. I would love to avoid lugging my UDAP bear canister up there but don't want to be foolish.