Scary things encountered

westend wrote:

Rmack1 wrote:

westend wrote:

Rmack1 wrote:
I once went tent-camping at Yosemite. I specifically asked, and was told that there were bear boxes at the campground. If you don't know, these are strong metal boxes with latches that bears can't defeat to keep your food and other odoriferous items that might attract them.

When we got there, the promised bear boxes were stacked in a big pile near the campground, enclosed by crime scene tape. I asked a ranger if we could just carry one over to our site. This would have worked, as no bear could carry one, and would give up anyway when he couldn't get in. No, for some obscure reason they couldn't let us do that. The ranger said to just keep our food in the trunk of our car.

The next morning, both windows in the back seat of my Honda Civic were folded down flat against the outside of the back doors with glass shards everywhere. The back rest was ripped to shreds. There were bear prints on the car (which I later showed to the insurance adjuster) and a smelly, dirty mess all over the back seat.

The bear never got the food, as the metal bulkhead between the back seat rest and the trunk defeated him.

I have never been back. I was appalled at the arrogance and condescension that I encountered from the rangers. I've met lots of other national forest and state rangers and never ran into anything like these kid's attitude.

So, your Honda got ripped up by a bear when it was full of food parked in a known bear high population area and you want to blame the staff for the problem?

Maybe, since the boxes were all gathered and the area taped, they had a valid reason not to be using them. Perhaps those canisters had food waste on them and were to be cleaned before reuse.

What? No, the bear boxes were brand new, they just hadn't been installed yet. There was a miss-communication between the 'staff' that booked the reservations and the 'rangers' on site.

I just hate the corporate mentality that forbids the logical solution of everyone carrying their own bear box over to their camp site, because some lawyer would sue if some idiot hurt himself picking up the box.

The attitude these very young college kids that were administering these stupid policies dramatized was the real turn off.

I knew all about the dangers from bears. This is why I tried to make sure I had someplace to keep my food. When the promised bear boxes were not forthcoming, I assumed the 'rangers' would make themselves useful by guarding the campground, since they told me it would be alright to put my food in the trunk.

I'm just speechless.