Wind River Range High Route, Late August – Food Storage

Ursack is more than fine and a regular stuff sack works for me.  Up high it’s the ground dwelling critters that get into things but if you get it off the ground on a rock face you should be good to go.

+1 on the rock face. If you pick your campsites to includes a big overhanging rock or small cliff (sometimes directly above the lake shore), then you should be fine. This strategy has worked for my friends and I on several trips to the Winds.

Thank you, John and Lester.

This might sound like a silly question, but whats the best way to hang a bag from a rockface or overhang?

I have typically just hung over a small tree on the rock.  A protruding section of rock would be the next choice typically.  I seem to almost always be able to find a small tree growing out of the rocks though.

counter balance with a rock on the other side

The tie off you use depends on the terrain. If you can walk or easily climb to the top of the rock or cliff, then you have more options, such as to tie to a rock, tree or bush, or if there’s a nice crack, wedge a chockstone into the crack and tie off to that. The counter balance tie off method mentioned by Jerry will work if needed, but I have rarely needed it. If at all possible look for a face that’s too tall and difficult for a bear or marmot to climb. Overhanging rocks/cliffs are ideal, but vertical faces have worked for me too.

I typically climbed up a bit if I couldn’t get on top of the rock/cliff, and used a knot in the stuff sack line to jam into a crack or just hang the bag of a nub of rock.  Again, I am only interested is keeping it off the ground and out of reach of mostly rodents, but I have encountered coyotes as high as 12k in the winds.