UpNorthica

There’s nothing quite like fumbling around neck-deep in underbrush and mosquitos, trying to spot an adequate tree from which to hang your food bag:

Lessee, you tell yourself, there are those jack pines nearby, but the branches won’t support more than my fleece hat and a t-shirt, soaking wet. That birch, on the other hand, has sizable branches — but the trunk itself is so light, my grandma could push it over. Hmm, we may have to compromise the ‘10 feet up, 4 feet out” rule tonight…

Still, Prevention Is The Key To Late Night Furry Critter Visits, so hanging the bag is a necessary evil. Or not?

We’ve recently tried caching as a critter-proofing alternative –should you?

Caching is no new concept; Inuits hid extra food stores underneath rock piles; homesteaders in Alaska peeled back sod to place caches in the permafrost soil. More recently, some parks have made bear boxes a requirement for campers.

In his book Boundary Waters Canoe Camping, 2nd Edition, writer Cliff Jacobson gives convincing reasons and suggestions for caching your food in waterproof sacks, on the ground, outside of camp. Why yes, it sure does sound crazy if you’ve never tried it.

The idea behind the method is that bears have pretty good memories and are often conditioned to look for food up in trees. By vacuum-sealing and/or ziplocking your foods and placing them a ways out from your site, you mix up bears’ expectations. Bear visits favorite lunch spot. Bear sees nothing, smells nothing. Bear leaves.

We decided to put Jacobson’s recommendations to the test on a recent trip. We packed our food so that it would be waterproof and unscented. Anything that could drip or was messy we packed with a food sealer. The rest went into double zip lock bags (or just one, if it was already in its own plastic.) We then divided up our food by meals, into some waterproof CCS Stuff Sacks we had already owned.

While in camp, we scoped out a few spots to stash our bags in the woods. Old stumps, undersides of fallen trees and rock crevasses were all fair game; generally places that wouldn’t be too near an animal or human trail. We actually placed the caches later on, right before bedtime. If the spot was somewhat exposed, we put a little brush or wood over the top.

It definitely felt risky; a gamble using all our food as the stakes. And initially we cringed at the thought of using so much plastic and the garbage it would create (though most of the zip locks were re-usable, even after the trip.)

But placing the caches took us less than 15 minutes to pull it off and we never had any of the bags disturbed. Not even by mice. It made our trip a heck of a lot easier and we spent more time sitting on the warm rocks, enjoying the sunset.

So, can we fully recommend it?

While there’s no foolproof solution, this method is definitely worth consideration and trial. Citing its speed, practicality and Leave-No-Traceability, we’ll be caching food again soon. And to any bears reading this: Skip the fiesta, ‘cause we ain’t bringing no piñata.