Base camp for bears

What’s more mouth-watering to a hungry Yosemite bear than an SUV full of coolers? Haul bags that rock climbers use to stash their gear and food.

Climbers who tackle big walls such as Half Dome or El Capitan strap the stocky bags, also called “pigs,” onto their backs to ferry loads between camping areas and starting points for climbs.

It’s long been standard practice at Yosemite National Park to inform campers and hikers in the valley about the need to properly store their food away from bears. Bear-proof lockers, warning videos and brochures and ranger talks reinforce the fact that leaving food out is an open invitation for bears to smash into cars or tramp through campsites.

But rangers have had a harder time getting the word out at Camp 4, the climber hangout on the east end of the valley. It’s the only walk-in campground, a place where tents crowd closely together and strangers often share sites -- making it hard for rangers to monitor the area.

Bears have keen noses for coolers and picnic baskets, and now they recognize the big bags as potential food sources. Problems occur when climbers don’t store the bags in bear lockers or don’t hang them out of a bear’s reach.

But the necessity to shuttle gear and food makes climbers particularly vulnerable to being plundered. Typically they stash a haul bag at the base of a climb and return to camp to fetch the rest of their supplies. In the meantime, the stash points become virtual drive-through windows.

“Haul bags are like Happy Meals: There’s food and toys!” according to one Internet posting by a Yosemite climber from Portland, Ore.

Seeking to reduce the tension between bears and climbers, park officials have assigned a summer intern and two live-in camp hosts to educate climbers at Camp 4 about the need to bear-proof their sites. However, some say these measures won’t solve the problem.

“Bears nuzzle haul bags with all the love and concern Freddy Krueger offers his latest victim: razor-sharp claws ripping through piggage with impunity,” says 20-year Yosemite climbing veteran Peter Zabrok. Bears have swiped beer, cheese and Oreos from Zabrok’s bags. “People say that Yosemite belongs to the bears because [they] were there first,” he says, “I emphatically disagree.”

According to Steve Thompson, a wildlife biologist at the park, the valley is naturally subject to high bear density even without the temptation of picnic baskets or haul bags. “It’s low elevation at 4,000 feet, and the spring grasses are the bear’s main food ... there’s also abundant berry crops and acorns,” he says.

Thompson says bears get bolder the more they interact with humans. Visitors have never reported a bear mauling, but rangers on average kill one bear per year when an animal appears to present a danger to humans.

“We have the interests of both climbers and bears at heart,” he says. “We think that humans can use the park and bears can use it too.”

Climbing ranger Lincoln Else uses Internet message boards to inform climbers about proper food storage. He also hosts Camp 4 coffee forums every Sunday.

In the meantime, Camp 4 folks use bear-be-gone remedies of their own such as sprinkling black pepper over their belongings or urinating around their gear.

Climbers wanted officials to install bear-proof lockers at the bottom of rock-climbing routes, similar to ones in campgrounds, but Else says that “in wilderness we don’t want to build permanent structures. Bear boxes are convenient for humans but they mar the landscape.”

Else thinks that as cabin dwellers and tent campers in the valley become more careful about storing snacks, the climbers at Camp 4 may need to be more vigilant because bears will be on the lookout for easy sources for food.

Else says he hopes the climbing community will get the message. “If we can make leaving food unattended or stored incorrectly uncool,” Else says, “then our job is done.”