Using a bear canister is the only way you can truly keep those animals out of your food supply. Hanging your pack from a tree works, but only when the bear stays on the ground. Black bears can easily climb trees, and, as luck might have it, a determined grizzly might find a way. But packs hung in trees are also susceptible to other animals such as raccoons, which can just as easily get into your pack and eat everything you brought. Bear canisters keep them all out.
Bears have incredibly powerful olfactory glands, even more powerful than a blood hound’s and tens of times more powerful than a human’s. A bear canister won’t prevent the bears from smelling that yummy human food, but it will hopefully keep them out.
When some people see a bear canister for the first time it looks inconvenient. And by some measures it is. It’s a fixed, unmovable storage space, difficult to know how to pack it correctly. Here’s a few tips. First, make sure that the bear canister is centered in your pack. It should sit directly against your back, and the top of the canister should be up near your shoulders. Second Tip. At home, pack and repack it—practice. Practice packing food and toiletries into the small plastic space using the same deliberate packing methods as if the canister weren’t there. Pack the heaviest items toward the middle—if applicable—and the light items toward the top. If you are using freeze-dried meals from a bag, roll the bag up to compact it as much as possible. For easiest and quickest access to toiletries, place these at the top of the canister. Remember also, when you place the canister 100 feet away from your campsite at night, to place it somewhere stable. People think cliff ledges and shorelines are great ideas until an animal either pushes the canister from a ledge or sends it out floating into the lake.
Bears are active in the fall in the Bitterroot Valley. Stay safe by being bear aware, and enjoy the beautiful fall scenery of the Bitterroot Valley.
