A ranger in the Sierra Nevada told me my bear hang was a total joke

I was at the Mineral King ranger station last August getting my permit, and the ranger asked to see my bear can. I said I was hanging my food. She looked at me and said, 'A proper hang needs to be 12 feet up, 6 feet out from the trunk, and 4 feet down from a branch. Your 8-foot hang is just a snack delivery system.' I switched to a bear canister that same day. Has anyone else had a piece of trail advice completely change their routine?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_lopez1mo ago

Just going through the motions" is so true, I did the same thing with my tent stakes for years. A guide saw me just tapping them in and said I was basically building a kite, not an anchor. I started actually hammering them in all the way after that, lol.

the_drew1mo ago

It's funny how often we do things just well enough to fool ourselves. That ranger basically pointed out you were just going through the motions.

julia_patel1mo ago

Notice how this happens with stuff we learned as kids. We get shown the right way once, then just coast. Makes you wonder what else we're half-assing without knowing.