Bear bagging

[beeman]

I just got back from a two week backpack trip at Philmont Scout Ranch. I had a wonerful hike including a hike up Mt Baldy, el. 12,441 ft. starting at 9,800 ft.
What I most enjoyed learning was the Philmont way of bear bagging. I was used to finding a limb and throwing my rope over it at least 5 feet out and hauling the bag of food up, then tying off. The Philmont way was more complex.
Start with a 100 foot line. Fold it into two 50 foot halves and tie a small figure eight knot where it folds. Now throw the knotted end of the rope over a bear cable. Now, clip a carabiner through the knot loop. Using a larkshead or weavers knot, tie your food bags to the bear rope as close to the figure eight as possible. in our crew of 12, right after a 4 or 5 day resupply, we could have four to six food bags. So, two to three bags tied in on each side of the knot. (the food bags they gave us to use were poly sand-bags). Now pass a second doubled up rope through the carabiner. That is a "smellables" rope. Pull the original doubled rope to hoist the assembly up into the air. Tie off each rope half on separate trees if at all possible. If one side should come undone because of a bear of whatever reason, the food bag still stays up.

When you have eaten and brushed your teeth and powdered your feet and so on, put all your smellables, food wrapper/trash bag into poly sand-bag and tie it to the doubled up smellables rope that is running through the carabiner which is now up in the air. Pull that double rope up and tie it off like you did with the food bag.

If there is no bear cable, use a third rope. Throw rope #1 over a limb on one tree. Throw rope #2 over a limb on tree #2. Use the carabiner to clip the two ropes together, with the smellables rope running through the carabiner as before. Once the food bags are tied into the two ropes you threw over the limbs, you pull the two doubled ropes to hoist the food and tie them off preferrebly to separate trees. You just created a bear cable! It is too thin and light for a bear to try to climb out on and even if one rope on each side gets chewed through or undone, the load still stays out of their reach. It is more complex to write about than to do.

[Trail Bug]

Sounds a little like the PCT. A video would be nice as it would be interesting to see..

[7Sisters]

I usually tie my food bag between two trees as well, but the "Boy Scout" way seemed very effective (and quite complicated).

I've heard amazing things about the program there. How was your overall time?

[beeman]

Overall it was fantastic. We chose a trek that actually took us off of the Philmont north country into an area called Valle Vidal. Coming from an el. of 605 feet, it was a great acclimatization period the first couple of days. Day one administrative check in was amazingly smooth. There was a HUGE tent city, one block being trailbound and one block being homebound. They are processing about 750 to 800 scouts and adults through every day without a hiccup. A Philmont ranger meets you at the welcome center where your tents are assigned to you and walks you through the process, signing in, dropping your medical records and getting a last minute medical screening, checking out crew equipment, getting your first load of food, going over the trek you have chosen and learning exactly where you are supposed to check in and exactly where you are able to get more food, having a pack shakedown with the ranger, attending a church service if you are inclined that way, having an opening campfire program, catching a meal or two in base camp, touring a philmont museum, dropping your secure valuables in a holding area, getting a crew picture, and making any final payments before hitting the trail. The next day on the trail is a short 3 to 5 mile day again getting acclimated to the altitude. That day the ranger does extensive training in leave no trace principles and teaches the crew the Philmont way of doing things. On the Philmont property, there were staffed campsites and ample pit toilets, bear cables, and wash sumps, sometimes potable water and sometime water needing to be treated. The staff were there to do different programs like gold panning, tomahawk throwing, blacksmithing, black powder rifle shooting, spar pole climbing, search and rescue exercises, team challenges, teach you how to use and care for a pack burro, fly tying and fishing, etc. It varies with the camp, but usually there are a couple of programs at each camp. On the Third day, our ranger headed back to basecamp to start another group and we started in the area that was actually off of the Philmont ranch and in the Carson national forest and some private ranch property. Where we were for the next five days there were no pit toilets, bear cables, sumps, or staff. We had to navigate using topographic maps and compasses and dead reconing, and filter or treat our water as we went. Philmont ranch has lots of trails and some are signed, but only a fool would depend on them alone. In Valle Vidal there were NO trails. On Day 4, we went to a historic farmstead called the Ring place and picked up our next 4 days of food from a commissary that Philmont was allowed to keep there. It was a shipping container. We finally got back onto the actual North country of Philmont and the traditionally Philmont treking program for the remainder of the hike on day 9. Very friendly and helpful staff at the staffed camps.

[7Sisters]

sounds like an awesome experience. Really seems like they're well oiled!

[beeman]

Next year they will have their millionth hiker. Yet with all that traffic, the property is not trashed! 137500 acres in area and the Valle Vidal wildlife management area is another 100,000 acres that they also have access to.

[shelb]

Sounds awesome! Someday I will make it to Philmont. I did just spend 5 days at the new Summit Bectel Base in West Virginia....

[beeman]

You must have been doing the shakedown. I heard that it was going on last week?

[beeman]

I put a pictoral sequence of bearbagging on photobucket-
http://photobucket.com/bearbagging