Pop-Ups in Bear Country??

[pricerj]

After years of tent camping in the Sierra's and using Bear Boxes, I am somewhat nervous about taking my pop-up to some of our favorite sites.  Our pop-up's internal stove, refrigerator & cupboards have been extensively used in "kitchen" mode. I know the smells (at least to a bear) tend to stay around awhile.  

Anyone have pop-up experience in California bearbox sites? And is inside cooking a definite no-no?

[AZsix]

I have never camped in bear country but I was reading tips on a website for a cg near the Grand Tetons. I can't remember if it said not to cook inside but I think it did. It did say to store all food and any clothes worn during cooking in a hardsided vehicle. That would be the tv in the case of a pu. I believe I have seen posts where people said they did cook inside with no problems. I'm sure someone that has had experiences in bear country will get around to answering you.

[OC Campers]

We have camped in bear country for 12 years now.  7 of those years with a popup and the rest with a tent.   We have never had a problem with a bear invading our camp.  One trip we had rented a tt and a large bear wandered thru camp while we were inside eating but he just checked out our empty containers and kept on walking.  We also cook and store food inside our camper on most trips.  When we are in bear country we stow everything in the truck with a tarp or blanket covering it.  Bears know what a Budweiser box looks like.

That being said, we have friends who have a popup and were camping in our favorite cg in the Eastern Sierras of California (Robinson Creek in Bridgeport) in September.  They left for a couple of hours and came back to a huge claw mark in the end of their bunkend.  I try not to worry too much because this year with the drought and lack of food available for them in the high country the bears have been a little more plentiful than usual.
 
I would just make sure you lock up and cover your food.  Just remember there will always be someone dumb who will leave his cooler out so the bears will visit their site instead of yours:p .
 
Jacqui

[beacher]

We regularly cook inside our PopUp when at non-bear campgrounds and RV parks, and on the exterior stove which also leaves some residual smell.

However, when in bear country, we follow the same bear rules everyone else does.  I cook on a grill or stove at a picnic table away from the PopUp.  All unopened food is stored sealed and covered in the SUV.  Any opened food packages are well sealed and hung up in a tree far from our PopUp.  We keep sealed cold beverages in the PopUp refrigerator.

Every summer we also camp in the Eastern Sierras in bear country, (Trumbull Lake, Twin Lakes, June Lake Loop, and Willow Springs).  We have seen bears and mountain lions in and near camp, (but MANY more rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoon, deer, and crickets).  We have never had any problems with the bears.

[kimrb266]

We've camped in Yosemite for the past 2 years and the bears have been extremely active.  Our 1st year, we were in our PUP and #2 in a hybrid.  Only store water in your fridge and store everything else including your beauty supplies in the bear box.  We didn't have any problems with the bears wanting inside the trailer but THEY DO CHECK bearboxes.  A 400#+ bear got into our our 1st time because I didn't double lock the box.  

We went to Sequoia in our 1st PUP and popped popcorn inside the trailer and was worried that a bear would come to partake.  The Ranger told me that if a bear is attracted to your smells and if he can't find anything, he'll wonder off.
 
As long as you keep your food and toiletries in the bearbox, you'll be fine.  The bears want an easy meal and would rather not work so hard for their snack.
 
Good Luck.

[Jean Thayer]

After years of tent camping in the Sierra's and using Bear Boxes, I am somewhat nervous about taking my pop-up to some of our favorite sites.  Our pop-up's internal stove, refrigerator & cupboards have been extensively used in "kitchen" mode. I know the smells (at least to a bear) tend to stay around awhile.  

Anyone have pop-up experience in California bearbox sites? And is inside cooking a definite no-no?

My husband and I were camped at Colter Bay in the Tetons a few years back. We were out for a walk and saw a woman standing outside her tent trailer WITH a skillet in hand ... a bear was entering her rig and she wasn't about to let him have her pork chops!  I don't know how it all turned out, but the ranger was just standing there watching the critter and had no desire to tangle with him. Don't know if the bear had chops for dinner, either.

[Dray]

So what do you do if Yogi Bear decides he wants to check inside your PU fridge and starts to make his way inside?

Pepper Spray?  Or do you need special bear spray?  Where do you get that?  

Something I do is keep my TV keys handy at night.  I believe if I hit the panic key on my keychain and set off the alarm it would scare the bear and also draw attention to our situation.  

I also stow my hatchet inside the PU at night.  I say why leave such a good weapon outside where it does you absolutely no good.

[Darrell T]

I won't say I wouldn't worry about bears, after all they are wild animals and ultimately unpredictable and there are stories of unfortunate encounters as well.
That being said:
I have backpacked and tent camped out of my truck my entire life in the mountains of Colorado, I am 40 now, and have had more bears in camp at night than I can count. I have, on more than one occasion, woken up and heard the foot steps and breathing of one just on the other side of the tent wall. Generally if they hear you just unzip your sleeping bag they will scurry off. After all they are just looking for some grub. I have chased more than one bear away in the middle of the night as well.
The problem arises at formal campgrounds where the local bears associate people with food. Since most of my camping, even with the PUP, is done far from campgrounds the bears I encounter haven't had quite the exposure to trash and leftovers.
One thing stands anywhere anytime Don't get between a sow and her cubs.
If you hear one at night you can get up turn on the light and make some noise, talk loudly, rustle some pots and pans together that sort of thing.
Bear/pepper spray will work but you only want to use it to ward off an attack. it only works at close rang like I think about 10 ft or so. I have yet to feel I need it.
Darrell

[pricerj]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm a lot more comfortable about taking our PUP up there next spring. I will religiously use the bearboxes, cook outside and not worry about past smells from earlier trips. Thanks

[flyfisherman]

Our Alaska trip last August was so memorable, not only for the spectacular surroundings and the great fishing, but for the abundant of wildlife, especially bears! I saw more live roaming bears in the wild in two weeks than I did all my entire life before! Where I was at there were both blacks and "browns", really a subculture of coatal grizzly, who have become big and fat off an abundant  supply of salmon, like this guy ...

http://www.alaskaflyfish.net/crusty2.jpg

Another thing I loved about Alaska was the attitude of the forest rangers and DNR folks; they give you the lowdown on bears, Alaska's laws and policies concerning them and let you go about your own business. No Big Brother saying you can't stay here in a tent or a popup, they simply will go over some of their past experiences with bears and then leave you with a list of "suggestions". Where Alaskan's will really get upset is feeding the bears - that's the first thing on their list of "things not to do"! A fed bear becomes a dangerous bear when they associate people with food. There's signs that say "a fed bear is a dead bear",  meaning that they eventually have to kill those bears who have made that association.

Obviously there's the old admonition of avoiding getting between a mama bear and her cubs, but equally important is when encountering a bear ... don't run; they will run you down real fast like! Then comes the reminder that bears, especially grizz, don't like surprises; they get kinda upset.  So when trudging along a back woods trail the advice is to call out about every 100' or so (sooner if it makes you feel better) ... "Hey, bear!" - chances are the bear will hear you and you'll never see most of them.

Another important reminder is that bears can be very territorial, especially if your in their prime feeding area. Here the browns (grizz) are well know for their
false charges. Come at you hell bent for election only to stop some feet (yards)
short; a clear indicator that maybe your in one of the bear's favorite fishing holes! Where I was at, they consider the black bear every bit as dangerous as the Brown; they maintain that if a black bear charges he really means it and intends to do you great bodily harm ... maybe even drag your remains over to the den for dinner!

We spent one night on the shore of an remote inland lake, in tents no less! In the heart of bear country!  Here the byword was to hang your provisions and trash high in the tree for the night ... not ever in the tent! They like a method of suspending a rope between two trees and the second line is tossed over the first line and suppiles are hoisted between the trees, as black bears are excellent tree climbers; and this should be at least 100' (or further) from the main camp.  Also, two camp fires are highly recommended. The one you sit around at night telling fish stories and the other a distance away (again, 100 feet or more), where you burn any food scaps and burnable debris. Bears are known for their excellent sniffers and have been know to rummage through camp fire ashes in the middle of the night for any leftovers.

Well, anyway, we had an excellent night encamped beside the lake. Enjoyed a fabulous cutthroat trout supper fireside, and being absolutely worn out, slept that night like a log even with the sounds of critters moving around in the woods not too far away.




Fly

[Camping Coxes]

We have camped in Sequoia and in Lake Tahoe with our pop-ups.  The first rule is not only should you only put sealed food in the pop-up, but sealed food that is in something like cans or bottles; i.e. a boxed item like cereal will likely still be smellable to a bear.  Maybe not, but why take a chance.
 
Our pop-up we have now was definitely cooked in when we got it.  There was food stuck to the stove, etc.  I gave it a thorough scrubbing.  If you do the same, you're likely to be fine.  
 
And remember, the bears do not really want human contact, only human food.  Follow the ranger's guidelines for food storage -- use the bear box for everything, including toiletries and coolers, and leave any empty coolers open so the bears can see there's no food there when they make their 3:00 AM raids.  
 
Don't miss out on the beauty around us because you're afraid of being in a pop-up with bears.  There's tents around too, and they're fine.
 
Side note:  Funny story -- years ago DH and I were tent camping in Sequioa.  Moddle of the night we wake up to crunching footsteps very close to our tent, and we can see the silhouette of a bear walking right next to our tent.  I grab DH's arm, and he's already awake giving me the "SHHHH" sign.  The  bear goes to the corner of our tent, sniffs loudly, lifts his leg and "waters" our tent, then ambles off.  Next day when the ranger makes his rounds and asks us if we've seen any bear activity, we tell him what happpened.  He said not to worry about it, that's just what the bear does to mark the spot where it's coming back for its next meal.   :yikes: Gotta love a ranger with a sense of humor.

[haroldPE]

is that what they're after?

Bears know what a Budweiser box looks like.

[Clarabelle]

When I'm in bear country, I follow the suggestions and warnings.  An ounce of prevention and all that.

[boukrev]

If a bear box is around use it to store food. One thing about bears is if they can not smell it they will keep going. Yosemite has a great video of bears and cars that have food in them. A car is no match for a hungry bear. A bear is very strong and can and will rip a door off your car if it smells food. On that note if there are bear boxes in the campgrounds then there are bears and bear problems, or people food problems....


Gregg

[campdaddy]

It's been decades since I'v camped out west where we had to really worry about bears. We've camped plenty in the Smoky Mts. but they only have black bears there. Not to underestimate black bears because there have been a few fatal attacks in the last few years, but compared to grizzly bears, black bears are almost tame. I've read that when hiking -or biking like we did last summer- in bear country that you should make noise so as not to come upon and startle a bear. They even recommend tying little trinkets and bells to your clothing so that a bear can hear you coming. The problem with that is that while this is effective for black bears, not so much for grizzly bears. It might even draw their attention to you with the tinkling sound. Some parts of the country like the eastern slopes of the Rockies have both grizzly and black bears and it is helpful to know which types of bears are in an area you are hiking. How do you do that? You examine their scat. Yes, is true! If you can find some  bear scat you can tell which type of bear it is by examining it. Black bear scat will contain berry seeds and undigested bug and grub parts, while grizzly bear scat will have bells and trinkets in it!!!!!

At least that's what I was always told!