Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Mike White
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Lone Pine Creek, Anvil Camp (Shepherd Creek), Onion Valley, Taboose Creek, and South Fork and North Fork Big Pine Creek.
Stock users are responsible for following no-trace practices within the parks and surrounding wilderness areas. A downloadable PDF is available on the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks website detailing the specific regulations pertaining to stock use (www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/stockreg.htm).
The Bear Facts and Other Animal (and Insect) Concerns
Bears
The range of the grizzly bear used to include the Sierra Nevada, but the last grizzly in California was shot near Horse Corral Meadows in the early 1900s. Since then, the common American black bear has been the only ursine species in the range. Despite their name, black bears vary in color from jet black to cinnamon. Quick, agile, and oftentimes quite large, mature males can weigh around 300 pounds. Active both day and night, black bears have a highly developed sense of smell. More common on the west slope, they usually stay between 5,000 and 8,000 feet, occasionally traveling through higher elevations. As omnivores, black bears subsist mainly on vegetation and are typically not aggressive toward humans. Bears unfamiliar with human food sources tend to be quite shy and retiring, avoiding human contact at virtually any cost. However, black bears that have grown accustomed to human food and garbage through our carelessness can become destructive and potentially threatening.
Once bears discover food in coolers, cars, or backpacks or garbage from unsecured trash bins, reconditioning them away from these food sources is extremely difficult. Bears frequenting developed campgrounds in search of food tend to be the boldest and potentially most dangerous culprits. Relocating such animals has not proven to be 100 percent effective, since they generally find a way back to habited areas in search of food. “Problem” bears then face death at the hands of wildlife officials.
Despite a reputation for being dumb animals, bears have figured out how to thwart previous attempts to hang food in the backcountry. Nowadays, when attempts are made to counterbalance stuff sacks full of food from a tree limb, a bear might simply climb the tree and either sever the cord or break off the branch. Mother bears often send cubs up the tree to knock the bags to the ground. The counterbalance method was never foolproof for backpackers camping at or above timberline, where trees were either too low to the ground or absent altogether.
Several years ago, park and forest service officials in the Sierra implemented a plan to help minimize bear-human conflicts in the backcountry. They outfitted popular backcountry campsites in bear-prone areas with metal bear lockers, started requiring bear canisters in high-traffic areas, and encouraged hikers to use them elsewhere. This plan has been in effect for many years and, for the most part, has successfully broken the bear’s association between backpackers and food. Requiring the full cooperation of all recreationists along the urban fringe, the plan has been less effective near developed campgrounds. When visiting the parks, everyone is responsible for storing food-related items away from the bears so that they do not become accustomed to seeking human food or garbage as a food source.
Bearproof canisters may add a few pounds to your backpack, but this burden should be offset with the knowledge that the life of a bear may be spared. Plus, having food safely secured in a canister should help hikers sleep more soundly. Despite the emphasis on protecting food from bears, recreationists should not be discouraged from hiking or backpacking in the High Sierra, as actual bear sightings are benign and fairly rare.
The following guidelines will enhance your experience while helping to protect the bears:
At campgrounds:
Leave extra or unnecessary food and scented items at home.
Store all food, food containers, and scented items in securely latched bear lockers.
Dispose of all trash in bearproof garbage cans or dumpsters.
Never leave food out at an unattended campsite.
In the backcountry:
Don’t leave backpacks unattended in plain sight while on the trail.
At camp, empty backpacks and open all flaps and pockets.
Keep all food, trash, and scented items in a bearproof locker or canister.
Pack out all trash.
Everywhere:
Don’t allow bears to approach food—make noise, wave your arms, and throw rocks. Be bold, but keep a safe distance between you and the bear. Use good judgment.
If a bear gets into your food, you are responsible for cleaning up the mess.
Never attempt to retrieve food from a bear.
Never approach a bear, especially a cub.
Report any incidents or injuries to the appropriate agency.
Within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, hikers must use bear canisters in the following places: within the wilderness area bordered by Sawmill Pass and the Woods Creek drainage on the north, Forester Pass and the Kings-Kern Divide on the south, the Sierra Crest on the east, and Cedar Grove, South Fork of the Kings River, and Sphinx Crest on the west (including all trail corridors and cross-country routes within the area); within the Dusy Basin wilderness areas including all camp areas from Bishop Pass to the junction with the John Muir Trail in Le Conte Canyon and all cross-country areas in Dusy Basin and Palisades Basin; and within the Rock Creek Wilderness area of Sequoia National Park including all camp areas in the Rock Creek drainage, including Miter Basin, Soldier Lake, Siberian Outpost, and Rock Creek proper. (Specifically, the area is defined as areas [including cross-country routes] in the Rock Creek drainage west of Cottonwood and New Army Passes, south of Crabtree Pass, south of Guyot Pass, and north-northwest of the Sequoia National Park boundary and Siberian Pass.)
Within Inyo National Forest, hikers must use bear canisters in the following areas: Bishop Pass, Cottonwood Lakes, Cottonwood Pass, Kearsarge Pass, and the Mt. Whitney Zone.
Bear lockers are installed in many backcountry locations. In Sequoia National Park, there are bear lockers at Hockett Plateau, including Hockett Meadow, South Fork Meadow/Rock Camp, and Upper Camp/South Fork Pasture; Mineral King, including Franklin Lake and Lower Monarch Lake; Kern Canyon, including Lower Funston Meadow, Upper Funston Meadow, Kern Hot Springs, and Junction Meadow; Little Five Lakes, Cliff Creek, and Chagoopa Plateau, including Moraine Lake, Big Arroyo Crossing, Lost Canyon, Big Five Lakes, Little Five Lakes, Pinto Lake, and Cliff Creek and Timber Gap Junction; Rock Creek, including Lower Soldier Lake, Lower Rock Creek Lake, and Lower Rock Creek crossing (PCT); Lodgepole, including Mehrten Creek Crossing (on the High Sierra Trail, or HST), 9 Mile Creek Crossing (HST), Buck Creek Crossing (HST), Bearpaw, Upper Hamilton Lake, Emerald Lake, Pear Lake, Clover Creek South Crossing (Twin Lakes Trail), J O Pass Trail and Twin Lakes Trail Junction, and Twin Lakes; Tyndall and Crabtree, including Lower Crabtree Meadow, Crabtree Ranger Station, Wallace Creek (on the JMT), Tyndall Creek Frog Ponds, and Tyndall Creek (JMT).
In Kings Canyon National Park, there are bear lockers at Sugarloaf Valley and Roaring River, including Ranger Lake, Lost Lake, Seville Lake, Comanche Meadow, Sugarloaf Meadow, and Roaring River Ranger Station; Kings Canyon, including Lower Tent Meadow (Copper Creek Trail) and Frypan Meadow (Lewis Creek Trail); Bubbs Creek (canisters required, lockers are reserved for JMT and PCT thru-hikers), including Sphinx Creek, Charlotte Creek, Lower Junction Meadow, Junction Meadow and East Creek, East Lake, at 9,900 feet in elevation (JMT), Vidette Meadows, and at the junction of the Center Basin Trail and JMT; Woods Creek (canisters required, lockers reserved for JMT and PCT thru-hikers), including Lower Paradise Valley, Middle Paradise Valley, Upper Paradise Valley, Woods Creek crossing (JMT), Arrowhead Lake, and Middle Rae Lake; Kearsarge area, including Kearsarge Lakes and Charlotte Lake.
Cougars (Mountain Lions)
The chances of seeing a big cat in the backcountry are extremely small since they are typically shy, avoiding human contact at nearly all costs. They are much more likely to see you,