Hi folks,
still planning the trip to the grand canyon in mid april. We will be camping 2 nites total(bright angel & indian garden) and was wondering what to do about safegaurding the food.
I here the rodents are the real problems, and food in the packs are not safe : .
would appreciate any info you can give ie..techniques or equipment.
Every campsite at Bright Angel has a large "ammo box" to store food in and that is definetly where you should store yours the entire time you're down there. They also have elevated steel posts to hang your packs on (off the ground), but the critters can still get in your pack (I know from personal experience). Mostly ring tail cats is what I've seen down there and they are experienced food bandits!
I'm not so sure about Indian Garden, although someone here will know. I don't know how much backpacking you're planning on doing, but you might want to look into something like this - http://www.canyondreams.com/crittersak.htm
I don't work for them or make any money from sales. I did buy one though and it's worked well so far for me. Don't expect it to work with bears or ringtails with machine shops though.
GTG
The boy from Rocket City USA
'Alright now look over here and smile! and pretend like you're having a good time!'
Good advice desertgirl.
We had a fellow traveler that kept dehydrated food in his pack, I had to basically run a negotiations panel to get the ringtail out of his pack. evenstarx3 and Kurthzone can testify to that. Dehydrated or not, keep the food in the ammo boxes. Also remove cosmetics, toothpaste, medicines, vitamins, sun lotions, chapstick, etc. from your packs if left for any length of time. I have been told of critters chewing the soft plastic faces from GPS units as well. Keep your trash up and cooking area clean as well. If your stove has been slopped on, get it put away too.
Have fun,
GTG
The boy from Rocket City USA
'Alright now look over here and smile! and pretend like you're having a good time!'
GTG wrote:Good advice desertgirl.
We had a fellow traveler that kept dehydrated food in his pack, I had to basically run a negotiations panel to get the ringtail out of his pack. evenstarx3 and Kurthzone can testify to that. Dehydrated or not, keep the food in the ammo boxes. Also remove cosmetics, toothpaste, medicines, vitamins, sun lotions, chapstick, etc. from your packs if left for any length of time. I have been told of critters chewing the soft plastic faces from GPS units as well. Keep your trash up and cooking area clean as well. If your stove has been slopped on, get it put away too.
Have fun,
GTG
The boy from Rocket City USA
Quite a sight; GTG doing battle with this ferocious little ringtail that did not want to shoo at all. He was too aborbed in the dehydrated blueberry cheesecake. Reluctanly, after much shaking of the bag, he jumped from the pack. BTW the pack was hanging on the pole.
Anything that has a scent to it or odor including the clothes you cooked in) should go in the ammo boxes at the campgrounds. Now, if your hiking partner stinks, hanging him/her from the metal poll might be a bit more difficult
I've used the ammo boxes and have never had a problem.
A couple years ago, a small rodentia of unknown specie chewed a hunk out of a hip belt on a day pack I use for hunting. No food in pack....salt (sweat) on belt. It was repaired ok, but looks scruffy (no offense, Wiz!). As most of my gear is of the "get a second mortgage" price range, I now tend to carry my pack around during the day with the heavy cheap stuff, like water, fuel and food in a bearbag in camp, and the light expensive stuff, like goretex, down, tent, and the pack itself on or with me. -R
"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for." -Louis L'Amour
I've heard that the Ursack works very well for keeping small animals out of your food. They are popular among AT thru-hikers who sleep in mouse-infested shelters.
OTOH, I've also heard that the Ursack does not work all that well for bears, which is weird considering that is what it was designed for. : These are Sierra bears though, which have a reputation as being really skilled and persistent at stealing food.
"Of course we weren't lost. We were merely where we shouldn't have been, without knowing exactly where that was."
The ammo boxes make it fairly easy around camp but need to be used at all times if you're not eating. I have seen a number of people who are snacking for a second and then wander off for a couple of minutes only to have the animals run in during the hiatus. Of course, I also had a skunk crawling up my leg at one site to investigate the granola I had in my hands. Thankfully, I was not sprayed. How long would the hike out from the river have seemed?
Also, keep a very close eye on your stuff while resting at the 1.5 and 3 mile reststops. I've met two people who had their packs chewed into while they sat there for 5 minutes.
"The censorship method ... is that of handing the job over to some frail and erring mortal man, and making him omnipotent on the assumption that his official status will make him infallible and omniscient."
George Bernard Shaw
Call me unbalanced or unhinged, but if it were me, I'd just keep it in my pack w/ me.I'll save some money by not getting the oh so favorable "rat sack" and just keeping yourself equiped w/ some high qualiti weapontry....mate. One might call me "out there" but this way you might get some good close up of some animal pictures for yourself to post on this site in the end. NICE!
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