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| Backpack | 15.00 Miles |
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| | Backpack | 15.00 Miles | 2 Days 2 Hrs 30 Mns | | |
| | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | On Sunday, March 29, Backpacked from West Entrance to our base camp at first campground at Horse Camp (estimated 4 miles in). Then spent Monday with a daypack hiking to Paisano Canyon entrance (estimated about 3.5 miles from Horse Camp Canyon) and back to base camp. Hiked out Tuesday. Hiked with friend from Tucson who obtained the permit.
Sunday, March 29: Not far from trailhead met BLM representative who was checking permits. He mentioned he had seen 2 juvenile black bears roaming around Booger Canyon. Confirmed that bear hang method of tying off rope to tree was adequate for hanging food as I was not familiar with PCT method of hanging food. Saw many butterflies and lizards. Left Trailhead around 11:30 am and arrived at base camp, first campsite on approach to Horse Canyon, the small campsite preceding the other larger tent sites grouped together around 3:30. Had difficulty finding a good branch to hang food, so used branch of dead mesquite tree, though not ideal in height. There were a number of white-tailed deer in the long grass across the trail from our camp that evening.
Monday, March 30: With a day pack, hiked up to Paisano Canyon entrance. Had difficulty locating side canyon entrances. Knew we made it to Paisano Canyon as met some through backpackers on a 600 mile trek who had the Gaia GPS app and had downloaded the route and could use GPS locations even without the internet. Will use this method in the future. We thought we were at mouth of Hell Hole Canyon, but they helped us identify where we were and we were actually at the mouth of Paisano Canyon. We had hoped to make it to Hell Hole Canyon on our day hike,but did not have the time. We would have needed to have left earlier on day 1 and made it all the way to the campsite at Booger Canyon for night 1 to have made hiking to Hell Hole canyon and back to our base camp on Day 2 practical. We are backpacker/hikers who enjoy stopping frequently to look at birds, butterflies, take photos, etc. We saw a band of coatimundi crossing the path in front of us. We saw fresh bear scat on the trail during our day hike and made sure to make plenty of noise, which is easy to do as we talk when hiking. Going around blind corners on the trail, we made extra noise, as the sound of the creek might make it hard for a bear to hear us. We heard what we thought was a dog barking, but it turned out to be a male turkey, who continued making this barking sound even after we left. Later we saw a pair of turkeys. We figured the male was continuing to call in hopes of finding a mate.
Tuesday, April 1: Got up early to see Mountain Sheep on ridge above campground. They wandered around ridge within eyesight, though at quite a distance, for some time. A guide from a group that had camped in the next Horse Camp campground, just a short walk away, came by to report a bear problem they had had the prior evening. Her four clients (2 adults and 2 teenagers) were camped in the large campsite and she was camped just a short distance beyond in the smaller adjoining campsite. They had seen an adult black bear hanging around their camp that evening and after dark, she heard it batting at their hung food bag. She got up to scare it off and rehang their food. When she returned to her tent, the bear had slashed her tent open, destroying it and had bit into and destroyed a water bottle and bit and dented the hard rim of a cap left inside the tent. We offered to loan her our tent as we were packing out that day, and made arrangements to meet her in Oro Valley on Tuesday to pick it up. I showed her where I had done my bear hang with the tie off method and mentioned that the BLM reps had stated that the bears at Aravaipa had not yet figured out how to shred the rope on the tie-off method and that the hand and tie off the rope method was adequate. The guide was really bummed that she was going to have to report the bear and it would most likely be euthanized. This is what the sign means, "A fed bear is a dead bear." Just leaving food out that a bear gets can result in it learning to lurk at campsites and harass campers and eventually needing to be euthanized for its behavior, all because of sloppy hikers/backpackers. Pretty sad.
My friend and I broke camp and hiked out. We saw a large bear print headed the same direction we were and fresh bear scat, so made a lot of noise talking while hiking out and did not see any more bear prints after the first one. We saw a ladder-back woodpecker, cardinals and many other birds on the way out and in the arid 1/4 mile of desert at the end approaching the trail head, we saw Gray Hawks hunting. One of my Dirty Girl Gaitors came unfastened from the front of my hiking boot on the way out, and I noticed that that shoe had gravel in it, while the other one with the gaitor on all the time did not. So wearing wool socks - fairly thick, to cushion against any gravel getting in the shoe and using the Dirty Girl Gaitors worked out very well.
The next day when my friend and I met up with the private Guide to whom we had loaned our tent at the Oro Valley Golden Goose Thrift store. Upon returning our tent, the Guide reported that the bear had been hanging around at their campsite the following night also and that she had used the branch I had used to hang half their food, and during the night, the bear had shredded the tied off cord to cause the bag to drop and got that food. Luckily she had hung the other half of her food in another spot so she and her 4 clients still had some food. She said she had reported the bear activity to the company for which she worked as a guide. She also said if she ever came back, she would bring a bear cannister.
A couple days after we returned from our trip, I called the Brandenburg Ranger Station to let them know that the information that the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) method of hanging food not being necessary was incorrect, and suggested they let hikers/backpackers know that they need to use the PCT method. I also suggested they put in stationary poles for hanging food as both myself and the guide did not find great branches for doing so. The BLM representative had not yet heard about the bear incident from the wilderness trekking company to whom the guide had made her report. I informed the BLM Aravaipa representative of what I had heard from the guide and gave him the guide's name and phone number. He mentioned that they have a bear problem reported about once a year, and was glad to have the information.
If I were to return, I would most likely bring a bear cannister,or be prepared to use the PCT method and ensure there was a good tree and branch for a food hang nearby before choosing the campsite. I would also consider bringing bear spray. |
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