UrSack use above tree line

I did the WRRHR last August and an planning on doing it again this year.  I used an UrSack.  We did not see a bear during our trip, and from my reading, it sounds like they are extremely rare.  I was contemplating skipping the UrSack this year.  However, to answer your question, we ended up hanging it in the lowlands(2 nights), tying to trees if they were available at elevation, and hanging off cliffs in the extreme elevations.  We didn’t have any issue finding vertical cliffs that were 30ft tall and hanging the bag 10-15ft over the edge. FWIW, I don’t have a lot of experience in grizzly country, but years of experience in black bear country with no issues.

I carried an Ursack in the WRHR in September.  No problems.  Some places have trees.  We did have to hang it from a big rock a couple of times.  It’s a little bit of a pain but very doable.  I would carry it again.

in WRR few years back, probably should have used the smooth side of the boulder this time.  The marmots are much more of an issue than the bears there. i have always wondered about the Ursack.  If a bear gets it, you might still have the food, but it will all be mashed into a stew, tasting the same till the end of the trip!  Any experience there?

The UrSak filled with a few rocks and dropped in a lake with a rope tied to it…

Works above tree-line every time.

Are you being serious?  Why even use an UrSak if you are doing that…?  That seems very logical as far as covering the scent.

I am….long distance hike where usually there are trees to tie it to but on some nights there might not be….the lake is the answer….

If a bear gets to an Ursack, not only could the food be smashed to bits, isn’t there also a risk of the bear carrying it away?

Very interesting. I guess if you have high confidence in your opsak inside the ursak it could be put under water.

I too am heading to the Winds in July. The lack of bear sightings hasn’t been lost on me.

I used one often above treeline in the Sierras. A climbing nut works great to anchor it (e.g. between big boulders) when no trees are present… and when I’m just at treeline, I tie it to a small tree (anything of thigh thickness). Marmots are a worry also, but in my experience they are more interested in sweaty packs, etc. I usually stow my ursack late (near darkness) and never had a problem with them.

Thanks for the input. I have been to WRR three times and have never seen a bear there, and other than a couple of places, seen little sign of them, but I think being prepared is the responsible thing to do.

It sounds like above tree/brush line I could just bring my normal bear bag line and hang it over a boulder. I hung on my 2012 WRR trip but to be honest with myself a couple of my hangs probably wouldn’t be “bear proof” above tree line.

Putting it underwater is an interesting and innovative idea, and I guess would be pretty much bear proof. I bet that’s cold getting your breakfast out below freezing though!

Have used an Ursack since they first came out, when they were kevlar fabric. The diameter is 8″ like the current regular size spectra model, and it weighs 3.28 oz, including the heavy duty long draw cord with an ALU cord lock. But it was cut down to 10.5″ high (resewn with multiple seams of kevlar thread), enough space for a week’s dried meals (manufactured at home with freeze dried meats, rice or small pasta and seasoning; some energy bars for lunches, and instant breakfast, mixed with powdered milk and some Folgers instant – don’t hike to eat, eat to hike). The sealed polyethylene meal packages are packed in a thin zipped waterproof sack bought at EMS, then placed in the Ursack.

Trekking in northern New England or the southern Rockies, I look for a campsite with a good hanging tree well away from the tent, or as Ursack suggested, if there is no place to hang, using the long cord to attach the sack where it can’t be carried off.
Have never had any problem with bears etc. The sack remains in good, usable condition after decades of use.

For caching in the Rockies, use a much heavier and larger green spectra Ursack, double bagged inside with 2 clipped Opsacs, and hung high. Probably similar to the “mighty” sack they currently offer. No problem with that either, even when hung for periods of several weeks.

Come to think of it, have not seen bears in the southern Rockies, but there are plenty of them in northern New England. If were trekking in bear country further north in the Rockies, or further west but outside canister required areas, would use opsacs inside the kevlar Ursack even though just hanging overnight. I stay away from national parks and other heavily used areas, and that may also account for zero problems.

The Ursack has been often carried attached to a shelf on top of the pack, in order to keep food odors out of the pack so it can be kept under cover in the tent vestibule. Having had no problems, except once when stupid enough to keep a bottle of blueberry Kool-Aid in the tent vestibule, there has been no need to resort to further measures, such as suspending in lakes.

Using an Ursack isn’t as easy above treeline, but still much easier than hanging. I’ve always been able to find something to tie it to. If you were to buy an extra length of strong cord, you could tie it around large boulders.

I’ve used the in-a-lake and in-a-creek trick, too, and have never had a problem, even with stuff I cached weeks in advance of a death march.  It also, at least at 60N, serves as a refrigerator and lets me take cheese and meats out for more days – the next morning, it’s at 37F.  I’ll often make tortilla wraps with roast beef, cream cheese, bacon bits, sharp cheddar, and red onions.  Those are always fine for the first day’s lunch, but if chilled each night and then transported wrapped inside one’s quilt, stay cool enough for a few 70-80F days.

Slightly off-topic, but for nuisance critters like ravens, squirrels and mice; used cookie and popcorn tins avoid all problems and are only $1 at a thrift store.  Really handy in the desert SW.

We did the WRHR in 2015 and rock-hung all the way; it was easy.

I’ve used an Ursack in the WRR for 3 years and 3 years in several places in Colorado.  If I don’t find an easy tree to do a good bear hang, I just tie it to a thicker tree with the white rope tied to a tree and the food smell reduced with Opsaks.  I’ve never (not to my knowledge) had the food bothered by a bear in this way.  I usually can find a decently thick stunted tree to tie it to even above tree line since I usually camp near lakes.  However, when these are not available it is usually easy enough to find a large boulder or cliff from which you can hang it.  I have had the Ursack attacked twice.  Once, I was above tree line in the San Juans of Colorado and exhausted ……..I lazily just tied it to a boulder that was not high off the ground and Marmots attacked it.  They did not damage the main bag, but they did some damage to the white rope that I replaced after that trip.  Second, in the Wind River Range near Desolation Valley, I camped for 3-4 days and I hung the bag off a boulder and it was obviously not high enough.  Therefore, what I assume was a bear made a tear in the white rope and it scratched (very superficially) the bag itself.  I had been camping and eating fish every day for 3-4 days and this may have been what attracted the bear to the area.  Also, my Opsaks at this point were over 2 years old and one had several scratches and possibly holes in it which may have undermined its ability to keep in the odors.  Here is a video of that incident:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBImMu841Vc

I thought the whole idea of the Ursack was that you don’t have to hang it, you just secure it. Above treeline I’ve just secured it to a tree and buried it in small boulders. Because I’m in line sight of it, even at 100-200 yards, I can hear the rocks being dislodged and see what might be messing with it. But I’ve never had anything mess with it, so my method is untested.