I wanted to see how much food could fit in my bear canister today. The canister is advertised to fit about 5 days of food. I thought that was probably a conservative estimate because it looks like it could fit more than that when its empty. I was wrong. Pictured is my bear canister with the first four days of food before my first resupply. Unfortunately, the last leg of the trip, I have to carry 10 days worth of food. Obviously, there is no way 10 days would fit into this barrel, or probably 2 barrels. There is no way I'm going to carry another 3 1/2 pd. bear canister on my backpack. That leaves me with a few less than desirable options. 1.) I can take a chance that my "bearbag" hanging skills are superior to the hunting skills of the notoriously crafty Sierra blackbears. 2.) Find a rock crevasse to stuff my extra food into and hope for the best. 3.) Stay up all night and guard my food with a pan and whistle. 4.) Purchase a bear bag for $80 that is supposedly bulletproof.
Most likely it will be a combination of #1 and #4. I just hope I can order the bear bag in time for my departure date.
This reminds me of my first attempt at securing a water jug to the top of my kayak before the Everglades trip. In retrospect, what a terrible idea! I'm glad I tried it though. Doubly glad that speedboat went by before I got into the kayak!
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